[R] Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir), by: Jenny Lawson

Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir)
by: Jenny Lawson

★★★★★

When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father and a morbidly eccentric childhood. 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.

In the irreverent Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter help her 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. For every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the dark, disturbing, yet wonderful moments of our lives.

I try to be appreciative of what I have instead of bitter about what I've lost.

Well, let me start saying that I do not read much non-fiction. Not because I don't like it, but more because is hard to find something that I might be interested. It is quite an honor for me to read any non-fiction book and like it, just because IS non-fiction and I don't actually read them. So, yes, I loved this book but for other reasons more than it was hilarious. This book made me laugh, but while laughing I was seeing life from a different perspective.

My father noticed the nonplussed look on my face and leaned in further, like he was telling us a secret he didn't want the squirrel to overhear. "This," he whispered, "is no ordinary squirrel. This," he said with dramatic pause, "is a magic squirrel."
My sister and I stared at each other, thinking the same thing: "This," we thought to ourselves," is our father clearly thinking we are idiots."

Jenny Lawson's life is like no other. I cannot compare anything from my childhood, teenage years and the little bit of my adulthood to her. She has so many crazy stories that if it wasn't for the images I wouldn't believe much of it. I mean, who has baby raccoons for pets? Really, I thought my life was crazy and could inspire a book, but her life? She can inspire a whole series and she would be the author, because who else can tell her story if isn't her. This book goes from childhood, to teenage years and to her ferris wheel of adulthood. Being a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother is not an easy task for Jenny. Everything in her life came with strange machines (meaning circumstances) and the instructions weren't in the box. It is fun to hear her talk about the most insane circumstances in her life, but it makes you appreciate yours a little more.

It bothered me. Not that Victor equated caramel macchiatos with civilization, but that there had been a turning point, a final tip over the edge when I realized that the small town I'd always expected to come back to no longer remained, at least not in the same as before.

Nothing cannot be more horrifying than been misunderstood in life, but Jenny makes us see that being misunderstood has its advantages, like the humorous stories to tell others. Something I can see of her in myself would be the word vomit. I cannot stop it and neither can she. But hers is a little bit further because after vomiting whatever she was thinking, she starts explaining or just rambling everything and nothing has to make sense. I feel her in so many levels and I still think that the camera is her best feature, because without images no one would believe her.

It's like I have a censor in my head, but she works on a seven-second delay . . . well-meaning, but perpetually about seven seconds too late to actually do anything to stop the horrific avalanche of shit-you-shouldn't-say-out-loud-but-I-just-did.

I have to admit, like I might said early, that when I start reading this book everything was funny and I was taking in everything as if it was joke. Soon enough I started to see that everything was real, that life is rude and rough, and that even though she makes you laugh her circumstances are very serious. Other than make me laugh, she made me cry like a motherfucker. I couldn't contain my tears when I read some parts. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone that has nothing to read and wants a good laugh and a good cry. It leaves wanting to appreciate life more when you see that even though things are rough, you can laugh. Go ahead and read it!

They may have all had suitcases three times as big as mine, but I realized that the emotional baggage I'd brought with me was big enough to put theirs to shame. I was a little lighter, though, now that I was leaving.