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missbreathing's review
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
I was charmed by this memoir at first. It started off well, and I liked the writing style and short, to-the-point sections. But about 90 pages in, I started to get bored. Gornick is a bit too existential and abstract for my taste. She doesn’t describe setting very well, and it was hard to feel myself situated in New York.
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There were some lovely quotes and musings, especially in the beginning. But after a while the author starts to come off as pretentious. She clearly has an extensive knowledge of fine art and literature, but, rather than attempting to introduce the reader to this knowledge, she seems to expect us to know about these things. It could just be that I wasn’t the intended audience, though.
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The author also comes across as critical. She aims for an impartial point of view, but the facade falls apart quickly. For instance, she describes this one moment on the bus where she tells a man (she makes a point of saying he’s Black) to lower his voice as he speaks on the phone and he begins to yell at her, so she orders the driver to stop the bus and call the police. It was such a cringey moment, and she clearly expects us to sympathize with her. I had a hard time finding her likable from there on.
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There was also one moment that reeked of ableism. It was hard to read.
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I only finished this because it was 175 pages long (and even then it felt overlong). I simply wasn’t enjoying myself by the end.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There were some lovely quotes and musings, especially in the beginning. But after a while the author starts to come off as pretentious. She clearly has an extensive knowledge of fine art and literature, but, rather than attempting to introduce the reader to this knowledge, she seems to expect us to know about these things. It could just be that I wasn’t the intended audience, though.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The author also comes across as critical. She aims for an impartial point of view, but the facade falls apart quickly. For instance, she describes this one moment on the bus where she tells a man (she makes a point of saying he’s Black) to lower his voice as he speaks on the phone and he begins to yell at her, so she orders the driver to stop the bus and call the police. It was such a cringey moment, and she clearly expects us to sympathize with her. I had a hard time finding her likable from there on.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There was also one moment that reeked of ableism. It was hard to read.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I only finished this because it was 175 pages long (and even then it felt overlong). I simply wasn’t enjoying myself by the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
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