Book Review: Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir

I'm waaaaaay behind on my book reviews, but I've been reading a lot. Maybe I'll catch up and one morning you'll wake up to 10 book reviews in your reader. Anyway, Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson was a book club pick for the "Springfield Book Club". I believe Lindsey chose this book, and choose well she did.

Let's Pretend is a memoir by the well-known blogger, Jenny Lawson. She chronicles her unconventional Texas upbringing, her Goth-inspired youth, how she met her husband, Victor, her stint in corporate America, raising a family--her life, as a memoir usually does. Her writing is laugh-out-loud hilarious. I'm not joking--laugh out REALLY loud. The entire time I was reading, I would think to myself that "this" part was mostly not true (or, I would read aloud to Jon and comment how it was a crock of s---), then Lawson would throw in a picture to prove her point. I ended up thinking that it really was mostly true, and no, she really couldn't make this stuff up.

Sometimes I was overwhelmed with her stream-of-consciousness style writing and her antics and wondered if I really liked the book. Sometimes she is too much, but then she would tell a story about how she completely kai-boshed the first meeting with her future MIL by sitting on the fancy sofa cushions, and I would be all-in again. She also used a device? or maybe it wasn't a device? of including editor's comments to express her editor's dissension with what she wrote. For instance she would write something like: My editor doesn't think this is a chapter because it has no central focus. OR My editor says I can't say this as it isn't true, but it's my memoir and I'm going to famous for this s---. She also uses profanity throughout, and I think she does it rather well. If that sort of thing offends you, I'd steer clear of this book. In fact, if you're easily offended at all, just skip this one.

I don't follow her blog, but I had run across the Beyonce the giant metal chicken story, and felt much more connected to the stories after that chapter. Lawson's book certainly isn't a literary masterpiece, but it's well written, and girlfriend has issues that she conveys with hilarity and a little too much honesty. I have no doubt she makes a great living with her story-telling abilities. I haven't read Chelsea Handler, but someone at book club compared Lawson to her, and I imagine that they are similar. If you want a good laugh or lots of good laughs, pick up Let's Pretend.  I gave it a solid 3.5 stars, and thank Lindsey for choosing it.