Once you read something you can’t unread it. No matter how hard you want to delete it from your eyes. The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes From a Life by Robert Goolrick was an incredibly disturbing memoir. Loyal readers know I love a good cry at a true story, but in this case I didn’t cry. Instead I gasped in horror and threw the book down in complete disgust. I feel awful for this poor man, but holy crap what a thing to tell me in such detail.
I chose this book because I had read Goolrick’s rather smutty novel A Reliable Wife. I figured a novelist writing a memoir was a good bet, and on the cover Entertainment Weekly claims the book is “morbidly funny.”
Listen here, EW. I don’t care if some stories were amusing, when the bomb was dropped on the reader three-fourths of the way through the story, all mentions of humor are out. Null and void. Goolrick managed to completely shock and disgust a frequent reader of Holocaust autobiographies.
I am not lending this book out, and will likely cover my eyes with my hand if it is ever mentioned in conversation. Including when R.E.M. plays on the radio.
Wow, that was an intense review. Following up on our conversation from last weekend that you 1) love people posting, 2) love recommendations, and 3) I love making people think I'm intelligent and well read. I nominate Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken for your next read thus completing a trifecta.
ReplyDeleteJomo, you are my new favorite reader. I will absolutely add that book to my (very tall) To Read pile, and then make fun of you relentlessly on this blog if I don't like it.
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