Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson
Publisher: Penguin Audio (April 2012)
Source: Personal Library
Formats Available: Hardcover, Audio
Format Read: Audio
Narrated by: Jenny Lawson
Running Time: 8 hours 41 minutes
Synopsis from Goodreads: When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father (a professional taxidermist who created dead-animal hand puppets) and a childhood of wearing winter shoes made out of used bread sacks. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.
Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter are the perfect comedic foils to her absurdities, and help her to uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments-the ones we want to pretend never happened-are the very same moments that make us the people we are today.
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is a poignantly disturbing, yet darkly hysterical tome for every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud. Like laughing at a funeral, this book is both irreverent and impossible to hold back once you get started.
My thoughts: An interesting audio book to say the least. I wavered back and forth on whether or not I wanted to listen to this one. There had been several recommendations for it in my twitter stream, so I took the plunge.
We all have anecdotes about our families that we think are hilariously embarrassing. Lawson has been brave enough to share hers with the world. There were parts of this audio that were very, very funny. There were also parts that were sad. Actually, Lawson takes the listener through a full range of emotion.
The one drawback to this audio is language. Lawson curses like there is no tomorrow. While it is not quite at the same level of Lies that Chelsea Handler told me I do feel like I need to put that out there. Definitely want to have the headphones on if you are trying to listen in public or with young ears around.
I think that Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is worth the listen, but I wish I’d borrowed it instead of buying it.
© 2012, Teresa. All rights reserved.
Great review. I’ve heard great things about this one. But you know, I think you are the very first reviewer I have read to point out the language. Thank you for that.
I liked this one, and some parts were hysterically funny, but the language was a bit much. I don’t mind off-color humor, but after a while it got excessive. (And her husband must be saint!)