Jenny Lawson, AKA The Blogress, shares what it was like growing up in a highly function dysfunctional home in Texas. Her father, a Taxidermist likes to stuff all sorts of animals, never passes by a road kill he can not think of a use for as well as raise a few animals of their own…. like chickens…. and goats….
From the school days, to her 15 year marriage to her patient but continuously confused husband, Victor, Lets Pretend This Never Happened is told in witty “this is what happened” chapters.
I mainly listened to this because Jenny Lawson is a Blogger and that is “Whoop worthy”. Although I admit, I was not familiar with her blog, I am almost always up for something that makes me laugh and occasionally makes pop come out my nose. Seriously, who would pass that up? 😛
After seeing a couple of reviews on this one, I decided I wanted to go with the audio version because I thought the book would come across better and because Jenny Lawson (author) was narrating this herself and that is usually pretty cool or AWESOME with a capital A. Or both. Yes, in this case both.
Jenny Lawson is an Awesome with a capital “A” narrator. She really does bring each story to life with her “yes this really happened” attitude. I enjoyed her telling of each story and her over use of the word “Ya’ all”, which makes me want to use it when talking with friends and when writing reviews… I have to be careful not to do that for the next couple of weeks until this gets out of my head so tell me if you see me using it.
There is no question that Jenny is funny and I am a big fan of dry humor and funny scenario’s. Some of the early childhood stories involving dead animal flesh, extremities, and other levels of “YUCK” were not my favorites of the audio. When Jenny gets more into her discussions with her husband Victor, I think those where the chapters I enjoyed the most. Victor’s bewildered “Seriously, what were you thinking?” to Jenny’s “Oh, but this will work and we should definitely patent this idea before it is stolen” counter is at times HILARIOUS.
Some of my favorite book/audio moments are:
Post it note argument with Victor.
The GPS – why do they give street names? Land marks would be so much easier “Turn left at that blue house where you once seen that bum passed out in the ditch”
The taxidermy Alligator on the airplane, (I laughed several times out loud when Jenny gave the Alligator a voice with a thick accent and had it talking to a much embarrassed and annoyed Victor.)
There are a couple of chapters that are pretty real too, so it is not all fun and games, Jenny’s attempts to carry a baby to term are heart wrenching, and when she openly speaks on her illness as well.
While Amazon says this is a good one to read if you are fans of Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants, I would say that Jenny Lawson’s crude language is far more frequent than Tina Fey’s was and if you are considering listening to this on audio you are going to overdose on the “F” bomb as well as a few other words. Did the language go to a point that it bothered me personally? Yes. I do not read Jenny’s blog so I am sure this is just the way she rolls, which is fine, but for me personally, I think it could have been just as good and maybe even better without all the language.
Book Journey 
I enjoyed this book but didn’t love it as much as everyone else did but cause the crudeness got to me after a while. I felt like she was trying to see how many times she could get a certain word into a book. Thanks for the link love!
It was your review Kathy that made me decide to go audio instead of the book. I am glad I did do audio as it was mostly a good listen.
I thought it was funny but not to the same extent of some of her more ardent fans. I agree with your take on the language. Here and there for emphasis is ok, but when you use it to the extent she did, it becomes just another verb.
Exactly Leslie. In Tina Fey’s book Bossypants she drops a few words here and there and that was fine, it just felt like too much here…. if I would have been a reader of hers I probably would have known all that was coming and have understood it more. 🙂
I’m going to go for the audio too. No children in the car or house to watch out for but I’ll have to roll up my window at stoplights if there’s a car in the lane next to me.
That’s funny Laurie! I didn’t listen to this one in the car, but I did while gardening, mowing my lawn, and finished it while riding on the back of a motorcycle. 😀
The premise of the book is intriguing, but I’m not a fan of the F bomb.
Me either.
This sounds like it is so up my alley. Like, it’s the kind of book I might write about my bizarre family. *Note to self: write book about my bizarre family. Make millions.*
LOL Audrey! 😛 A lot of people are loving this one and if you do audio I would recommend it as she is a rocking narrator!
I love funny memoirs so I think this one might be for me!
If you dont already read her blog, try it… if you like what she is writing there, you will like the book. I actually read her most recent post this morning – it was another discussion with Victor about Wonder Woman…. its pretty funny 😀
This book is quite the seller! Thanks for the heads up on the language. I think I’ll pass this one over.
It is selling well and I think that she has a lot of people who follow her blog, which I bet is a huge help for sales, and even me, who had not read her blog was all like :YAY! A blogger!” and yeah, I will read that. 😀
I’m loving the sound of this one and that cover is adorable.
LOL I hope you try it Diane!
This one is ALL OVER ze place! I actually missed an opportunity to go to a signing of hers, and I will eternally kick myself for it.
I think she in in New York during BEA, hopefully I will get a chance to meet her 😉
I think your warning about language is a good one – not everyone will love this book (this is why I suggested people read her blog before buying the book!). That said, I don’t mind language in a book. I guess I have a potty mouth *laughs* and I think my sense of humor is a little like Jenny’s … so I really liked the book! Thanks for the link love!
I dont mind some, I found this one a bit extensive.. but that’s me 😀 She has great witty moments that I love!
I’ve read Jenny’s blog a few times, but wrongly assumed the book would be an anthology of her posts. If the person who writes the blog is writing humorously about her life, then I’m in! I wouldn’t mind the swearing if reading it, but listening to it would be a different story, pardon the pun.
LOL – then I think you would like this one Charlie and I believe some of the stories are from her blog, but not all 😀