I read this book on vacation and I only Lol'd a few times. My problem with memoirs is that the people who fondly look back on their shitty childhoods have romanticized them. I get that growing up a certain way and letting it go shapes you, but there's a lot left to be answered. How did "gifted" Mishna end up a drop out? How did she reconcile with her Dad? It's also not that she never fit in because she resourcefully finds ways to, but she goes on to judge her rich classmates when she bemoans being judged by her neighborhood kids. She was also a quitter, who quit out of spite but also for approval and she whines a lot. It's not like either of her parents were a great example. Her dad was a know it all with nothing to offer and her mom sounds like a meek hippie. Her circumstances were supposed to make for hilarity, but it was all kinda disappointing. I'm don't have any insight on the race thing because those were her observations although it just sort of seemed her entire childhood was half assed. What I thought would be a comedy got more and more depressing the further I got in. I enjoyed ready this enough but I wouldn't recommend it to friends. I really felt sorry for Mishna. It seemed she couldn't win no matter how hard she tried. She was too "white" for her neighborhood and too poor and "ghetto" for her school. Her dad wasn't supportive and was critical, her step mom abusive, and her mother seemed sheepish and scared. So read if you are curious. It wasn't a bad book but it didn't leave me feeling there was any closure.
What do You think about I'm Down (2009)?
Great sense of humor! Quick entertaining book.
—gabscabs
