I'm Down

I'm Down by Mishna Wolff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mishna Wolff's father is white - but he acts like he's black, and he wants his awkward daughter to be just as cool as he is.

Mishna's ill-matched parents divorced when she was young, and her father took custody of her and her younger sister, Anora. The 6'4" former athlete loves his kids but is hopelessly immature, neglecting them to play dominoes with his buddies and making Mishna take over the hard work of looking after her sister. He's chronically unemployed, which often leaves their house without food or phone - though his ambitious renovation project does leave them with an interesting front door arrangement.

Mishna tells the story of her struggles to fit in, first with the kids in her mostly black Seattle neighborhood, and then with the wealthy white kids at a private school she is sent to later. The initial story of her summer at "Government Sponsored Charity Club", where she learns the fine art of "cappin'", or trading outrageous insults, is the highlight of the book.

Throughout the story her desire to please everyone puts her in painful situations. Her father doesn't understand her desire to educate herself to leave behind the poverty they live in - he thinks it's disrespectful for a child to know more than an adult, and he frequently accuses Mishna of selfishness. Then he remarries, and the dynamic worsens with the addition of Mishna's stepmother Yvonne, whose idea of femininity, respect, and duty are occasionally appalling.

In the end, it's clear that this book isn't primarily about race: it's about class. The biggest differences between the people in Mishna's neighborhood and the people at her school are because of money and education, not race. It's a funny and a touching story that doesn't preach.

I listened to an audiobook version read by Wolff, whose slight lisp and way of talking as though she has a mouth full of dental work is oddly endearing, as is the way she delivers her father's speeches, which frequently begin with an impatient "Mishna". (Here's an author interview at NPR so you can hear what I mean.) Her voice work reminded me strongly of David Sedaris' audio versions of his various memoirs, particularly Me Talk Pretty One Day. Her humor is less outrageous than Sedaris', and more clued into the complexity of family dynamics, but she uses a unique voice to bring a lot of humor to her experiences.

For another funny memoir that touches on father/daughter relationships, check out Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. And for more awkward childhoods, humorously retold, try Stephanie Klein's Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp.

FYI: The cover showing Mishna with an epic fro, which initially drew me to the book, is sadly PhotoShopped. Still a funny picture.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny  Lawson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jenny Lawson (also known as The Bloggess), recounts the stories from her life, beginning with her bizarre Texas childhood as the daughter of a taxidermist.

When not to read this book:

• When your bus stop is coming up, because you'll probably miss it thanks to stories about roadkill squirrel handpuppets
• When you have a mouthful of hot coffee, because you may lose it over the author's argument with her husband about the appropriateness of calling a graveyard "Resurrection Cemetary".
• In a crowded Starbucks where people may look at you funny for laughing aloud to yourself

Lawson's sense of humor runs to the bizarre and frankly unbelievable - you won't be able to tell the true from the "mostly true" in this memoir. But facts are not why you read a blogger's memoir in the first place (though in her defense she does sometimes provide photographic proof). Her rambling style and recounting of unlikely conversations with her long-suffering husband will definitely hit your funnybone if you aren't one to be offended by f-bomb laden musings on the possibilities of a Harry Potter-esque vaginal scar. It's fun, but best in small doses.

There are also moments of real poignancy, as she tells the story of miscarriages, the sudden death of a well-loved pug (and the subsequent vulture invasion of its grave), and dealing with the effects of generalized anxiety disorder. She gets at real insights with outrageous flair:

• "You should just accept who you are, flaws and all, because if you try to be someone you aren't, then eventually some turkey is going to shit all over your well-crafted facade, so you might as well save yourself the effort and enjoy your zombie books."
• "'A friend is someone who knows where all your bodies are buried. Because they're the ones who helped you put them there.' And sometimes, if you're really lucky, they help you dig them back up."
• "Because you are defined not by life's imperfect moments, but by your reaction to them. And because there is joy in embracing - rather than running from - the utter absurdity of life."

And pay special attention to the mouse declaiming with a skull on the front cover of the book. Apparently it's one of the taxidermied creatures in Lawson's increasingly odd collection. For readalikes with similar absurdist humor, check out Jen Lancaster's Bright Lights, Big Ass or Stephen Colbert's I am America (And So Can You!) (which on audiobook is read by Colbert himself).