Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson
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Web ID: 11774120Love at first read!
I initially purchased this book because the narrative mentioned EST treatments and a family member was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia and has had EST treatments (although, as I found out, not the same ones as Jenny). I laughed til I cried. Another reader mentioned being stared at by fellow commuters...same here. I then bought Broken for a friend of mine and purchased Jenny's first two books to read on my upcoming vacation. She is a beautiful soul who I can relate to on so many levels. Having suffered through depression at various points and anxiety all the time, I finally felt that I'm okay. Thank you. You're a true life saver.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
what hope feels like
I was worried at work this afternoon. I was on my break, reading a chapter of Jenny Lawson’s Broken (in the best possible way) on my phone, and I can only imagine what it would have looked like had someone walked by. They’d probably have thought I was having a seizure, since I was quietly trying to control the loud snorts I wanted to make, grabbing tissues to catch the tears coming from eyes. And had Lawson herself been there, she’d been high-fiving me. (Or maybe, she’d try to but miss and accidentally slap me, but that would only make us laugh harder. She’s that kind of awkward, and I am completely all in for it!) That is how funny this book is—it will make you look like you’re having a seizure because you’re laughing so hard. Lawson will tell you stories about attic vampires and vaginal lasers and that time leprechauns were in her house, and you will laugh so hard that you will stop caring how you look to others. And you will need those moments, because not all the chapters are like that. Some of the chapters are about Lawson’s fighting to stay sane despite depression and anxiety, fighting to stay healthy despite a host of autoimmune disorders, fighting with her insurance company to get some relief from all of that and to have them cover the cost or even just part of the cost. When she’s not achingly hilarious, she’s frustrated and angry, having to deal with a health insurance system that fights against her almost as much as her own body does. Anyone dealing with chronic physical or mental illness will understand her struggles—trying to get a diagnosis, trying to get the right treatment, sometimes just trying to be heard. There is a chapter called An Open Letter to My Health Insurance Company that I think should be a downloadable file with certain phrases left open, so that others can fill it in like a personal health-related Mad Lib and print it out and send it to for-profit health insurance companies, Congresspersons, pharmaceutical companies, and anyone else who might be in a position to help patients get access to the treatments that their doctors are recommending. (She actually did send it to her insurance company, and it convinced them finally to let her try a different treatment for her depression, and that worked wonders for her). And that’s how it is in Broken. Lawson takes you into her confidence about her health issues, and then she shares stories of social awkwardness that spread throughout the internet so thoroughly that you can actually pull a muscle laughing because the time you accidentally said, “Thanks, love you,” to the cashier at the drugstore is just a starting point for the long list of awkward encounters that people are willing to share. And that’s what hope feels like. It’s struggling and then embarrassing yourself and then laughing until you cry. It’s fighting with your significant other and thinking about breaking up with them and then realizing just how much time and energy it would take just to finish the paperwork, much less do the actual moving of things, and realizing that you’re too lazy to break up and so you stay together until you get back to that point where you love each other and can’t live without the other. It’s just life. It’s good and then it’s difficult and then you laugh or you cry or maybe both and then it all goes back to good again. Because that’s not just what hope feels like. It’s also what love feels like, and it’s what life feels like. Do I really need to say how much I loved this book? Lawson’s honesty and genuinely unique perspective on life combine in crazy ways to create stories that make you snort laugh, cringe, shake your head, nod in agreement, and consider befriending an owl and naming it Owly McBeal, because isn’t that adorable? Even if maybe she does drop a squirrel onto your head. I feel like I’ve gotten off-topic. I think this book is ideal for anyone who is struggling with mental illness, chronic illness, depression, frustration, loneliness, buttworms, cellulite, or vampires using emails to try to sell you immortality. It would also make a perfect gift for anyone on the list above or for your best friend, so you can laugh together at all the funny parts. Broken (in the best possible way) is a celebration of what us makes us unique, funny, interesting, sad, angry, and human. It’s a judgment-free zone filled with friendship and fellowship for anyone who knows what it is to struggle. In short: it’s for humans. It’s for us all. I just hope that you are broken enough to enjoy this book as much as I did. Egalleys for Broken (in the best possible way) were provided by Henry Holt & Company through NetGalley, with many thanks.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Honest, unflinching, and funny
Jenny Lawson is my spirit animal. I know it doesn't really work that way, but if you're a fan of her work, I'm sure you understand. Jenny could write limericks in Polish on dirty, crumpled napkins and I would still clamber to read them. I consider myself fortunate, then, that she's written another book. Broken (in the best possible way) continues the exploration of Jenny's mental health struggles, with depression and anxiety, and her day to day life. That may sound like a very dry premise, but only if you have no idea how funny Jenny Lawson really is. I wouldn't recommend reading this book on the subway or at your place of employment, unless you are really secure in your weirdness and don't mind people pointing/staring/talking about you. I say that because you WILL laugh out loud. Or at least snicker. Or snort. Or chuckle. Eh, what I'm trying to say is, Jenny is the kind of funny that can sneak up on you. What makes her humor even better, to me, is that it's a coping mechanism. Jenny's husband Victor, her partner and sometimes unsuspecting foil, says Jenny doesn't waste her pain. And she doesn't. She channels all the hurt, heartache, and frustration into an unparalleled sense of humor. But funny isn't all Jenny does, or is, she's also achingly honest, open, and vulnerable. She pulls no punches, and very frankly discusses meds and treatments, such as the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation she underwent when it was clear that the pills just weren't working. I love Jenny Lawson for her truth, her strangeness, her relatability, and most of all, because she makes me feel less alone. I will continue to obsess over all of Jenny's work, and do my best to keep the tiny flame of hope alive in my chest. I think she'd like that. Thank you to Henry Holt & Co and Netgalley, for the chance to review this advance copy.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Humor helps Jenny cope
Jenny Lawson - born and raised in Texas - is a journalist, blogger, author, and humorist who suffers from mental illness, attention deficit disorder, clinical depression, anxiety attacks, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune problems, and more. This makes Lawson's life challenging, but her medication - as well as her husband and daughter - help Jenny cope. Jenny tries to see the 'funny' in life, and shares her observations with her readers. I'll give some examples of Jenny's anecdotes, to provide a feel for her humor. Jenny tells a story about constantly losing a shoe, because one foot is slightly larger than the other. So Jenny walked out of a shoe in a hotel elevator, waited for the elevator to return.....and no shoe! Turns out someone reported it to security. Jenny vowed to stop losing a shoe, but proceeded to do it again and again. Thus Jenny once had to pretend wearing one shoe was an Avant-garde fashion choice, once lost a shoe in a public toilet, once lost a shoe in a storm drain, and so on. (I'd advise fashionable sneakers.) *** Jenny writes about being so uncomfortable at parties that she gets mouthy and makes terrible small talk, like comparing dog droppings and human droppings. Ick!! ***** After repeatedly mentioning genitals in a chapter about a maggot, Jenny looked to Twitter for gender-neutral words for private parts. Hundreds of responses poured in, some of Jenny's favorites being niblets, no-no zone, Area 51, the south 40, the Department of the Interior, my hoopty, my chamber of secrets, my bidness, fandanglies, and the good china. ***** In a chapter about editing her books - which Jenny does with a gallery of professionals - Jenny acknowledges that the process is awful and painful and hilarious and mortifying...but not boring. For fun, Jenny describes conversations she had about her books with a variety of editors. Some examples: ◙ Jenny confuses the pirates Blackbeard and Bluebeard because they have the same last name. Editor: I don't think "Beard" was their last name.. ***** Jenny has a knack for fun animal names. Her dog is called Dorothy Barker; her suggested monikers for a neighborhood owl are Owl Roker and Owlexander Hamilton; a yard rat is dubbed Boo Ratley; and a squirrel who steals peanut butter crackers is named Squirrelly Temple. ***** Jenny also tells stories about her husband Victor, her daughter Hailey, and her parents and grandparents. Much of this is amusing, though stories about pulling off chicken heads, eating goats roasted in ground pits, and snacking on gerbil jerky can be stomach-churning. ***** In a serious vein, Jenny excoriates her insurance company, which avoids paying for her medication and treatments....a phenomenon that's probably familiar to much of the general public. Jenny also talks about contracting tuberculosis because she takes immunosuppressant drugs for her rheumatoid arthritis; getting panic attacks; having childhood anxiety attacks that were so frequent her mother had to change jobs to work in her school; having regular suicidal thoughts; and experiencing extended periods of depression. Jenny goes on to describe the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) she received to relieve her psychiatric symptoms - treatments that are extensive and painful, but which helped. Jenny's books do good by helping others who suffer from mental illness. Jenny writes about being on a book tour and meeting wonderful people who dealt with some of the same issues she had. Many folks shakily told her that it was the first time they'd left their house in weeks. Jenny was proud to be able to talk to each person, though it was VERY draining for HER, because she gets anxious being around people. A difficult conundrum indeed. I like Jenny's humor, and there are some REALLY amusing chapters in the book. However, many sections feel forced, like the author was trying too hard to be funny. Still, the book demonstrates that mentally ill individuals can have good times and enjoy life, which is a lesson worth learning. Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Jenny Lawson), and the publisher (Henry Holt and Company) for a copy of the book.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com