Reflecting on her 1980s childhood in Disaster Preparedness, Heather Havrilesky walks a fine line between fully describing her family experiences and pointing an accusatory finger at her parents for their often cavalier attitude toward her needs and those of her siblings. Deeply reflective, Havrilesky holds her own choices and motivations under a microscope, as well, effectively creating a character study of herself, along with the other major players in her childhood life.
Exploring her early years as well as her adolescent and young adult years, the author shares a wide variety of stories of formative experiences. Family strife was the norm, and the realization that other families didn’t argue with the ferocity and frequency of hers came as a shock for her when she was young. Even worse, though, was trying to piece together a day-to-day normalcy when her mother decided to move out, indicating that it was only a temporary situation, but leaving the children feeling bewildered and confused about what would come next. Through her parents’ inevitable divorce, her father’s years of womanizing behaviors, and an adolescence spent just trying to find an identity that felt natural, Havrilesky maintains an honest tone that manages to convey both pain and humor, frustration and ultimate acceptance.
While reading each chapter, my comfort with the author grew and grew, so that by the end of the memoir, I felt as if we could absolutely be friends, for this woman is authentic and hilarious, that’s for sure. I found both her reflections on her childhood and adolescent experiences AND her ability to craft beautiful passages about them to be incredible. This isn’t so much a memoir about surviving a crappy childhood and rising above it all as it is a recollection of some depressing times and the ability to see through the poor actions of her parents, her peers, and herself to the reality of it all. There’s more acceptance than finger pointing, and not the ‘holier-than-thou’ type of acceptance, either. Havrilesky seems to be at a place in her life where she’s ready to move past being angry at people from her past for their failings. She can see the mistakes for what they are, without demonizing the people who made them. While we may not have identical background experiences, there’s something universal to the way in which she describes her childhood and teen years that I could absolutely relate to.
I’m thrilled to be able to offer a copy of Disaster Preparedness to one of our 5 Minutes for Books readers! To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post, U.S. and Canada residents only, please.
This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all for entering.
- The winners of Kristin Hannah’s Winter Garden are #33 Megan Dubois and #11 debi jackson.
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Dawn’s failing memory skills won’t ever assist her in writing her own memoirs some day, but she will be happy to look back at her blog, my thoughts exactly, to be reminded of the silly little things her life brought about.
This sounds like it would be an interwsting read! Thankyou for the opportunity to win it!
briannabeers at yahoo dot com
Sounds good. Enter me!
I’ve read several really good memoirs in the last couple of years. Would love to win this and read another! Thanks for the chance.
safoga at gmail dot com
I love reading memoirs, so I’d be glad to add this to my library. Thanks!
The author is quite young to have already written an autobiography.It should be interesting.
[email protected]
This sounds like an inteesting read!
someluckydog at gmail dot com
I think this memoir would be a good one for my book club & I just love the matchstick figures on the cover!
ruthiekb72ATyahooDOTcom
Congratulations, Ruthie B, you’re our lucky winner!
I love memoirs when they are well-done.
Sounds like a great read! Count me in!
w00t! for Heather Havrilesky and her honest new book.
I have loved her writing on Salon; I can only imagine her long form will be terrific.
Sounds like a great read…thanks for the giveaway.
Memoirs are one of my most favorite genres to read and would love to add this to my collection.
Thanks for the chance
I’d enjoy reading and sharing this.
I would love to read this book.
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
looks pretty moving-thanks for the chance
Always interested in learning from memoirs.
Have been an ardent Heather Havrilevsky fan since her hysterical work on the late-lamented (and non-porn site!) suck.com. Would love a free copy of her memoir!
I’d love to read this one! Thanks for the chance to win!
mearley1979 at gmail dot com
Sounds like a good book to have on hand.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
I’ve been a fan since http://www.suck.com/ and I think the title alone should make this a best seller. I volunteer for a rural public library and would consider it unethical to recommend it so I can read it.
I think we all probably have childhood issues of some sort, this sounds great, thanks!
Please enter me! Thanks!
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net
I would like to read this book
Sounds like an interesting read.
Sounds interesting… thanks for the review! Thanks, Maureen (jnomaxx at hotmail dot com)
Sounds like a good book. Thanks for the giveaway.
This sounds great.