Trigger/Content Warnings: depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, chronic illness, medical content, animal death Jenny Lawson has struggled all her life with anxiety and depression. This is definitely a hard topic to write about, but Lawson is unflinching in her description of her mental health journey and how she copes with the ups and the downs, in the hopes of helping other people dealing with mental health struggles and be open about it. Despite a seeming acceptance of the importance of mental health as many people have suffered during the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, there still remains a stigma. And as Lawson notes in her book, she has to fight her insurance company on covering the medications and other treatments she needs that are often deemed "unnecessary" or too costly. Broken is the darkest and most brutal story in the collection. A tale of violent revenge in New Orleans. ★★★★★

Sunset is a story that was written to include Winslow's "Dawn Patrol" characters like Boone Daniels. This is a good story and it's fun to spend some time with the gang again. The story is good though perhaps not to the quality level of others in this collection, it only suffers in comparison that way-on it's own, it's fantastic. BROKEN: SIX SHORT NOVELS, as the title suggests is 6 novellas, all of them excellent. The only one that didn't quite fill the bill for me was the Hawaiian one, but that's most likely because I haven't read the original book in which these characters were featured, (SAVAGES). Not yet, anyway.

I think we’d sit down and agree that the true hope is that neither of us has to have the loss of lady bits or excruciating procedures anymore. That’s some truth.

Yeah, Jenny and I are simpatico. And my hope is that she’s reading this and going “OMG well I never lost a lady part, so that’s SOMETHING.” And I hope the loss of that lady bit makes her feel better about her problems. If they had let me save that lady bit I’d give it to her as a medal and pin it on her so she could wear it and tell people how much her new bestie appreciates her. I mean what did you give YOUR bestie? Bet those flowers are looking lame right now. All Because she made me feel better about my problems. And damn that feels good. Thank you for writing about the embarrassing things you do like starting fires in your house and making me feel better about when I start fires in my house (the latest was a toaster fire because setting it sideways shoots the hash brown patties out onto a plate like it would be in the beginning of Pee Wee's Big Adventure but it also sets all the crumbs and grease on fire). Las seis novelas cortas son magníficas y, además, nos sorprende dando vida a tantos de sus personajes, tan queridos, protagonizando, sufriendo y emocionando de nuevo. There were a few sections about this book that were really good. I think her open letter to her insurance provider should be printed out and everyone should be made to read it (especially politicians and law-makers). I also liked the sections where she talks openly about mental health and chronic pain, because those are things that should be normalized, and the more people do that, the more natural it seems. The cringe compilation she got from her followers sharing some of their top embarrassing moments was also pretty great-- although in that section, the humor really wasn't hers. Bits and pieces of the writing in other sections wrenched a smile or a raised eyebrow but overall, this was a miss for me. Jenny's books do good by helping others who suffer from mental illness. Jenny writes about being on a book tour and meeting wonderful people who dealt with some of the same issues she had. Many folks shakily told her that it was the first time they'd left their house in weeks. Jenny was proud to be able to talk to each person, though it was VERY draining for HER, because she gets anxious being around people. A difficult conundrum indeed.This book spoke to me in ways that left me laughing out loud or crying. But most of all Ms. Lawson (because I’m nasty) has inspired me to document my own battles. She lays out her life in a raw, unfiltered way. She’s fearless though she talks of her fears. She’s brave while explaining how she’s feeling anything BUT brave. She’s human in every sense of the word. It’s true for me that if I lose my laughter I’ve lost everything. That’s when I know A former investigator, antiterrorist trainer and trial consultant, Winslow lives in California and Rhode Island. Most children go through stages of refusing to eat lima beans or brussels sprouts, but we drew the line at eating anything we’d watched get a booze enema.”

Broken του Don Winslow,έξι υπέροχα διηγήματα με ανθρώπους του νόμου που δοκιμάστηκαν οι αντοχές τους και ανταπεξήλθαν με αμφιλεγόμενο τρόπο.Πληγωμενες ζωές,κατεστραμμένες,με την ελπίδα να αχνοφαίνεται και να δυσκολεύεται πολλές φορές να βρει το δρόμο προς το φως. My thanks to Ms. Lawson and Henry Holt & Co. for the opportunity to read an advanced review copy via NetGalley. “Broken” is now available.To me, one of the most challenging aspects of clinical depression is not being to explain how it feels. I cannot emphasize enough how validating and exactly-what-I-needed-right-now this book is. It isn’t written to a specific, clinically-depressed audience, though. Ms. Lawson bravely speaks to absolutely everyone. Even those with brilliantly-balanced chemistry will be amused by these anecdotes. It’s impossible not to feel sorry for her, but that’s not what’s she after. She just wants to help others, and she succeeds. Her chapter on anxiety is really good (says this person with a lot of anxiety); loved her reminder that “all small terrors pass.” Also stellar is her chapter about a bizarre but legit treatment for depression (which involved doctors applying magnets to her head—I kid you not). Oh, and besides her head stuff, she has big physical ailments, too, like rheumatoid arthritis. She goes through a lot. Those who regularly read my humble opinions here are aware that I try to keep this space a “no-spoiler” zone. I will do my best to adhere to this rule while discussing BROKEN, even though I am tempted to do so. Let me get it out of my system by first talking about “Paradise,” which bears the subtitle “Being the Intermediate Adventures of Ben, Chon, and O.” A walk-on of sorts also occurs in “The San Diego Zoo.” It’s a fairly innocuous title that begins when a San Diego patrolman named Chris Shea responds to a report of an armed chimpanzee at the zoo. What results earns Shea lots of YouTube notoriety, as well an excruciatingly slow-budding romance. There’s a mystery here as well, consisting of how a chimp got hold of a handgun. Shea solves this one, too, with the encouragement of another character who plays a larger role in “Crime 101” and appears yet again in “Sunset.” Jenny: Can I just leave a poop emoticon to say sorry for being shitty at words. Editor: The poop image is an "emoji." An emoticon is a typographical display of facial representation using text only. Jenny: Jesus, I can't even use poop correctly.

But what I’ll remember the most is the funny. Even her chapter titles are a hoot. Some favorites: And Then I Bought Condoms for My Dog; So I’m Paying to Beat the Shit Out of Myself?; How DO Dogs Know They Have Penises?; and Up Divorce Creek Without a Paddle (Because the Guide Didn’t Trust Me Not to Push Victor Overboard with It). Remember, these are all true stories! And as always, like I wrote above, her musings on anxiety and depression made my heart hurt but also strangely soothed me because it's comforting to know other people struggle too as messed up as that sounds. Hailey would look at me in awe. “And you couldn’t afford YouTube?” she’d ask. And then I’d explain that there was a time before YouTube and then she’d start to doubt the veracity of my stories and I’d just say, “Yeah. We couldn’t afford YouTube.” Broken: In the Best Way Possible is the third collection of comical, every-day-life essays by Jenny Lawson (also known as The Bloggess). Ms. Lawson is one of the few people on this planet willing to share self-deprecating stories, not just for a laugh; but to show those who feel alone that they really aren’t. I recommend Broken (in the best possible way) to fans of Jenny Lawson and anyone that thinks the idea of a mix of funny stories and serious discussions of depression would be interesting.In a serious vein, Jenny excoriates her insurance company, which avoids paying for her medication and treatments....a phenomenon that's probably familiar to much of the general public.