Do You like book Straight Up And Dirty: A Memoir (2006)?
I've avoided reading this book for years now. I got to know the author through a mutual friend, and I had such a hard time coming to terms with reading a memoir when I 'knew' the person whose life it was about. It felt wrong of me to read about her life, private and personal details she went through, and get to know her in a way that felt so removed from a conversation. I'm so glad I got over that and read her memoir. This sounds cheesy as I'm writing it, but it's given me strength when I needed it most. So often we are afraid or simply don't know how to find happiness within ourselves. She took me on a journey were I could identify and personally grow from, just by being a bystander.
—Melissa
As an occasional visitor to Klein's blog, I picked this up thinking it would be a quick and entertaining read. WRONG. This book is so disorganized and confusing that I couldn't even finish it. It's horribly written stream-of-consciousness with no discernible structure. Klein can be funny and brutally honest, but her book is completely self-absorbed and pretentious. The thing is, Klein probably knows this, but thinks it's clever and cute (or at least marketable), whereas I do not, and didn't stick around long enough to see if she redeemed herself.
—Jen
For my book club I'm going to write a real review of this book. I found this book to be much too wordy, chocked full of cliché’s, overly dramatic and fun to read. There were passages when I was just hoping she would get on with it but there were others where I was laughing out loud. I am a firm believer in the editor's pen and I feel it was lacking here but I still give the book a three. I would re-label this book as a self help piece. I think it speaks to women who are in verbally and even physically abusive relationships or are recovering from these situations. There is a lot of preachy but helpful, empowering advice for this audience. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I am not in this target audience so I sometimes found there to be too much introspection, even for a memoir. The few times the author described an actual event or scene and used dialogue, I really enjoyed it. I wish there were a little more actual dialogue and decriptive passages about places, ect. and less soliloquy about her feelings.All the New York isms were a bit much. She was using what was once fresh language but is already just cliché in much of her dialogue with friends and even with the reader. I found it overshadowing her true intent of the narrative. Loved all the grit and raunch. Hate to admit it but I’m that kinda’ girl. I hope you enjoy this read despite its flaws.
—Marci