Book Review- Rax King's Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of Rax King’s memoir, Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer.

I have to confess that King’s book was completely unexpected. Previous to reading her memoir, I was not aware of King, who hosts a podcast of the same theme as her book. I have not have a chance to listen to her podcast, but I have since subscribed and I look forward to it.

What I found surprising, was the tone of her memoir. Based on the cover and title, I was expecting a relatively fluffy book that would allow me to relate to King with a shared love for our less refined side of American culture. What I was not expecting was the serious tone and heavy subject matter that is soaked into every chapter. There is humor, mostly from King’s wry comments and keen observations, but she also attacks heavy subjects such as relationship abuse, body image issues, and sordid affairs. It’s dark and weighty. It’s cringy too, such as the reveal of a young Rex doing her best to be sexy for a much older, married boyfriend. Each chapter intwines a “tacky” culture phenomenon with her personal issue, such as finding the joy in watching Jersey Shore with her father, as he is dying.

The book may not have been what I was anticipating, but I want to convey to would-be readers that Tacky is so much more and so much better than I was expecting. Far from fluff, it was a profoundly moving experience. King’s memoir is raw and she offers no apologies, nor should she, for the life she has lived and the tacky culture that she loves. Read this book!

Book Review- Chuck Klosterman's The Nineties: A Book

Thank you to LibroFM and Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of Chuck Klosterman’s The Nineties: A Book.

Klosterman examines some of the key cultural, technological, and political events of the nineties with a specific focus on how this decade shaped the people who came of age during this period.

I am the audience for The Nineties. I graduated from high school in 1995 and I vividly remember every key event that Klosterman mentions in his book, including the OJ Simpson trial, the Clinton scandal, the Los Angeles Riots ( happened a mere fifteen minutes from my home), death of Kurt Cobain, Oklahoma City Bombing, et… But I must confess that I had not given much thought to many of these events in many years and Klosterman’s analysis brought me right back to that era of my life, but with the benefit of distance.

As small as this seems, I was most struck by Klosterman’s dive into how movies shaped the nineties attitude. Klosterman reminded me of a attribute associated with people of my generation, a general vibe of not-caring, but even more, the desperation of showing others how nonchalant you can be, as if it was a contest. I’m not sure how much of this is actually true, but it is certainly reflected in the pop-culture of the nineties. Klosterman uses the example of the film Reality Bites to reflect the worst of this attitude.

I have not watched Reality Bites since I was a teenager, but at the time, I loved the film. Klosterman points out that the film has aged poorly with the protagonist, Lelaina played by Winona Ryder, choosing the wrong love interest, a slacker played by Ethan Hawke, who berates and belittles her choices., including her dream of becoming a documentary filmmaker.He doesn’t show her much attention and is negative towards the good guy, played by Ben Stiller, who tries to date Lelaina, while showing nothing but love and support. But of course, in nineties fashion, the actual good guy loses, because he cares too much, and because Lelaina is culturally programmed to find the detached, aloof guy, far more appealing. In fact, she spends much of the film quite desperate to get his approval. The nineties teen me was in full-on approval mode for Lelaina’s choice, but now, the forty-four year old me living in 2022 is horrified by this choice. Again, I’m not sure if the films of the era truly reflected my own life, but I can see how the messaging impacted the way I viewed relationships and motivations. It was toxic.

Klosterman narrates his own audio book and I found his voice to be pleasant and easy on the ears. I appreciated this time hop back to my teens and although some uncomfortable revelations were experienced, I enjoyed Klosterman’s keen observations. This book would be fascinating for many people, but it will have special meaning if you were old to remember the nineties.

Book Review- Georgia Pritchett's My Mess is a Bit of a Life: Adventures in Anxiety

Thank you to LibroFM and Harperaudio for providing me with a copy of Georgia Pritchett’s memoir My Mess is a Bit of a Life: Adventures in Anxiety.

I was initially attracted to the catchy title and the theme. Although I don’t suffer from anxiety, the topic has been coming up a lot with my friends. I wanted to better understand what they are going through and I hoped that Georgia Pritchett’s memoir would give me greater insight. I’m not sure if it accomplished that goal, as I feel that Pritchett’s personality and deflection through humor reflects her experience with anxiety and that likely to a person suffering from anxiety, some of what she is going through might be highly relatable, other aspect, not. I don’t mean to say that Pritchett is even attempting to speak for all people who have anxiety, only that I had the realization of how personal the problem can be.

Pritchett is an enormously talented television writer, her projects include Veep and Succession. I picked her memoir without connecting the dots that this was the same Georgia Pritchett as in the credits of some of my favorite shows. Connecting the dots was a delightful surprise. Her memoir is quirky, hilarious, and deeply intimate.

I don’t know what Pritchett’s voice sounds like and she does not narrate her audio book. The book is narrated by Katherine Parkinson who is fantastic at capturing Pritchett’s dry wit and the pacing of the piece, especially ramping up in anxious moments. The combination of Pritchett’s humor and of Parkinson’s narration reminded me of David Sedaris, whom I adore. I enjoyed the entire memoir, but I was particularly fond of Pritchett’s childhood stories. She had such a peculiar perspective on adults and other children. I felt like she’s a kindred spirit.

I can’t wait for the next season of Succession, but I also hope that Pritchett will find time to share more non-fiction writing. She’s fabulous!