Confessions Of A Latter-day Virgin: A Memoir (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Woman finally has sex. Big deal The book chronicle's the author's desire to have sex (and get married) while trying to reconcile those wants and needs with her Mormon faith. It had intrigued me when it first came out because I knew of people who went through the same thing (although they were not Mormon) and was curious how this Hardy tackled it. Unlike other people, I had no idea that this apparently was born out of her piece that ran out of the New York Times. I also have no idea why it got a book deal. Raised by Mormon parents and she herself a life-time follower, Hardy faces a tough choice as she grows into adulthood. She wants to find a husband. Her mom married at 19 and Hardy watches as her friends, acquaintances (both Mormon and non-Mormon alike) fall in love get married, have children (many of whom grow apart from the author). She longs for the same thing. But it doesn't happen. The book is exceptionally repetitive: she meets a guy. They're into each other. They may or may not enter a relationship They have makeout sessions that vary on how far they go, but she does not achieve intercourse. She goes to meetings, signs up for internet dating sites, tries to find her hobbies, essentially runs away onto the next thing with little to no direction in her life. She waitresses, she teaches, she does odd jobs here and there. I was kind of amazed her parents put up with it and sent her money when she wanted to do various activities and move to a new place. And honestly, that's part of the problem. Her faith has little to do with the book--she discusses the basics of Mormonism but there's no deeper thought about the history, the controversies, etc. She talks a little about her conflict with it and how she eventually decides to leave the faith, but I couldn't understand WHY. Maybe my eyes glazed over it when she was talking about yet another new thing she was doing or the new guy she was seeing. Sure some of the guys weren't a great fit and she does write up about some creeps here and there. But considering the number of times she shied away from full-on sexual intercourse and how she'd emotionally (and often physically) withdrew, it just felt like there was a lot more than just her physical desires conflicting with her faith. As I read I tried to figure out how would it end. Would she get married? Find a long-term relationship? I figured there'd be more closure and more discussion about how she feels about Mormons and the faith she was raised in. But it essentially ends once she has sex with a guy, about whom she says(just a few pages later) that they won't last, although she was glad she had sex with him. I understand that's probably why the title of the book is what it is, but I felt like it just skimmed the surface. If she was willing to write up her relationships with men, why not what else she learned from the experience? Did she learn anything? In part I decided to pick up the book based on the reviews, which were raves. I don't understand. Many of them say the book is well-written. No, it's quite repetitive and the author whines quite a bit. I am sympathetic to her plight and understand MANY people experience the same thing. But I don't know if got anything from writing this book (and her experiences) and wonder if she's just going to end up alone. Don't recommend it. So glad I got it at the library. This was not a book I sought out. I spontaneously saw it on the new books shelf and the "Latter-Day" caught my eye. To sum up: Sexually frustrated single Mormon Girl tries Salsa dancing and SCUBA diving. Spoiler alert: She leaves the church and has sex.It reminded me of Eat, Pray, Love but I didn't like it quite as well. It has all of the self-indulgent tone and almost none of the humor and charm. I'm not giving it a star rating because I feel like if I did, it would be more of a rating of her life choices than her writing. I'm sure her struggles with faith were very real. Singles in the church are not treated particularly well, and a lot of people say dumb things to them with their big fat mouths. But guess what? I'm a thirty-seven year old mother of four and people say dumb things to me with their big fat mouths too. It's not enough to write a memoir about.
What do You think about Confessions Of A Latter-day Virgin: A Memoir (2013)?
I related to this one a lot. I'm glad she found her way, even though her struggle made me feel sad.
—Princess1996
I liked the seattle references, but this memoir was too much about romance for me.
—mjc2rock
one of the best memoirs I have read in a really long time
—bookworm230
