I like Jenny's humor, and there are some REALLY amusing chapters in the book. However, many sections feel forced, like the author was trying too hard to be funny. And thank you for discussing your anxiety because it's good to have a buddy (an author you've met once) who also involuntarily tightens or shakes their hands when anxiety or sensory overload takes over and you realize you are not as unusual as you feel you are, although being unusual is also how you like it and would never want to be "normal." this might be my favorite one yet, but i am too broken to review it RN. go get it, though - you will not be disappointed!

My choices seem to be to either shank the person who is making me scared or get rid of all my fluids so I can run faster. I choose peeing over stabbing.” As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, Jenny brings readers along on her mental and physical health journey, offering heartbreaking and hilarious anecdotes along the way. It isn’t just about Winslow’s past though because we also get a couple of great homages to crime writing legends Elmore Leonard and Raymond Chandler. The San Diego Zoo is dedicated to Leonard and most definitely feels like one of his novels while Sunset is kind of a surfer based remake of Chandler’s The Long Goodbye.There’s also a feeling that this a retrospective of Winslow’s career with most of the surviving major characters from his previous books showing up throughout the stories. Seeing these older characters pop up and learn about their fates was a pleasure, and it gave me the urge to reread most of Winslow’s books. And if you don’t look too closely you can hardly tell she’s broken.I read Jenny Lawson’s first book, Lets’s Pretend This Never Happened, on my wife’s recommendation. Of course, by the time I read it she had probably already read a third of it to me a little bit at a time when I asked what she was laughing about now. Ms. Lawson had a bizarre childhood, and that memoir is hilariously bonkers. I couldn't stop laughing while reading a few sections. Like, fully-body laughter, which is rare for a book. The mix between these very funny sections and some really compelling, more serious sections was very effective and made for some moving reading. The parts of the book where Jenny Lawson talked about her struggle with depression and anxiety were very eye-opening for me, and I think it made me understand more about the struggles that people with different mental illnesses go through. The last chapter, one long metaphor, is probably the one Lawson feels is the most important. Said simply, it relates shattered glass to the feeling of being broken. There’s a definite upbeat tone—hence her book title: Broken (in the Best Possible Way). Although brilliant, it went on a little too long. It’s hard to keep using a metaphor forever, I think. Jenny's husband Victor has been one of my favorite parts about all of her books and blog entries. I love how she drives him completely nuts and he often seems frustrated or grumpy but in a funny way. Then suddenly you get these moments of sweetness from him that make me melt.

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.”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.

Il terzo è con dedica a Elmore Leonard. E suppongo che questo giustifichi il tono comico adottato da Winslow: che però non è lontanamente all’altezza dell’umorismo di Leonard: infatti, Don Winslow non è certo famoso per la sua leggerezza e ironia. Così, questa storia rimane fiacca, poco riuscita, non sapendo bene dove andare a parare. Some chapters surprised me with anxieties and odd decisions so very similar to mine. Finally, someone else who waffles between answering the door when the mail-carrier requires a signature or just ignoring it and driving to the post office on another day. Hoping to feel up to face-to-face communication in the future. That's not to say that there aren't difficult parts. She has long been open about her health and mental health struggles and some of those chapters are incredibly painful. But...but...she always offers a bit of lightness and hope even in the midst of the darker days.The unique thing about this book is that intermixed with these more stoic chapters are laugh-out-loud ones. That is, if your brand of humor includes things like toddler-sized tiny condoms for your dog to use as boots, buttworms, and bearcat hot buttered pee. (Yes, you read that right.) There are lists of mortifying things she’s said, mortifying things strangers have done and tweeted to her, and mortifying corrections she’s received from her editors. Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Co., and Jenny Lawson for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 4.6!** Even though I was disappointed in this collection, I read the damn thing in 24 hours. I really, really needed something that was completely engrossing and made me forget that I couldn’t go outside on a gorgeous spring day and ride my bike along the Mediterranean, something that I have never taken for granted on any of the thousands of bike rides that I have already taken here but will cherish even more if I can just do it one more time. Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Jenny Lawson), and the publisher (Henry Holt and Company) for a copy of the book.