Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4.5/5 stars)
Jenny Lawson is also known in the online world as “The Bloggess“, with a popular blog of which this book shares some of those anecdotes. Growing up with a taxidermist father, Lawson and her younger sister were constantly surrounded by bizarre things and events, from squirrels in boxes to “turkeys” following them to school. This book is a collection of some poignantly hilarious life stories that has gotten Lawson to where she is today. Told in her distinctive voice, the stories range from a good ol’ narrative storytelling to a Post-It note argument to recounting events via blog entries.
This book had me from the first page of the first chapter. I must have read that Starbucks/Doctor story to countless numbers of friends because of how hilarious I thought it was. I loved Lawson’s style, the spastic, off-on-a-tangent way of telling her stories, complete with footnotes and “editor” interjections! As “evidence” of said stories, the book was interspersed with some small black & white photos (which I often found hard to really make out what it was clearly… would have loved if it was a bit bigger or in colour). While most of the book had ridiculous moments, it was the chapter about her meeting fellow bloggers for an outing that I felt really connected to. Finding some fantastic kindred spirits that don’t judge and are supportive of you because of a shared, connected interest.
The stories our often outrageous and almost always hilarious. You know the saying, “it’s funny because it’s true”? All the more relevant with Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. So crazy, you can’t make this stuff up! (And honestly, how can you resist that adorable mouse on the cover??)
This, and other reviews can be found on my blog JustALilLost.com
