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an_enthusiastic_reader's review against another edition
5.0
I'm giving this memoir five stars, not because it is perfectly written, but because it is so well-considered by the author and because for me it's the right book for our perilous and uncertain time. If ever there's a need for community and doubt and an exploration of the Tragic vs. Trivial planes of existence, it's now.
The memoir covers a single year, 2012, of monthly meetings for contemplating works of art that question our purpose. Woven into analysis of the works that were chosen is the story of Gisleon's family history: her challenging and larger than life father and all his contradictions, the elision of her mother from hard truths about family secrets, and her tragic sisters' early and self-chosen deaths. It seems at the beginning like this might be superficial, but it's anything but. I felt a connection to the stories and the primal need for community that comes through deliberative acts of wanting to learn more. New Orleans and the catastrophic Katrina also play a major role in this memoir, brought more to light and to bear by the hurricane in Houston.
I would like more people to read this book.
The memoir covers a single year, 2012, of monthly meetings for contemplating works of art that question our purpose. Woven into analysis of the works that were chosen is the story of Gisleon's family history: her challenging and larger than life father and all his contradictions, the elision of her mother from hard truths about family secrets, and her tragic sisters' early and self-chosen deaths. It seems at the beginning like this might be superficial, but it's anything but. I felt a connection to the stories and the primal need for community that comes through deliberative acts of wanting to learn more. New Orleans and the catastrophic Katrina also play a major role in this memoir, brought more to light and to bear by the hurricane in Houston.
I would like more people to read this book.
laurabythebook's review against another edition
4.0
This non-fiction narrative book is the story of her life in the year following her father's death. Specifically it is about a group of friends who form a book group that focuses on existentialist readings and thought. How the book club meetings intersect with the events of her life are especially thought-provoking. Taking place in New Orleans, she tells stories of growing up in a big catholic family, surviving the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as well as the separate suicides of her twin sisters. I enjoyed getting to know her and watching her wrestle with some big issues.
thoughtsfromapage's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 - 4 stars
The Futilitarians is a weightier book than I normally choose to read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The book is heavy on philosophy, a subject I honestly did not know very much about before I read The Futilitarians. Anne Gisleson and her husband Brad chose to create the Existential Crisis Reading Group (nicknamed The Futilitarians) to focus on the question of how people move on in the face of great loss. Anne lost two younger sisters to suicide, weathered Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and lost her father to cancer. Feeling burdened by her many losses, she strove to find a way to carry on using the group’s monthly meetings and reading choices as a path to recovery.
Gisleson chronicles a year of the Futilitarians’ meetings including their reading choices for each month. I enjoyed some months more than others but learned a lot as I followed her path to find meaning in her life. I am glad I received it as part of Little, Brown’s Ambassador program; I doubt I would not have chosen it myself, and it was well worth the read. All opinions are my own.
The Futilitarians is a weightier book than I normally choose to read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The book is heavy on philosophy, a subject I honestly did not know very much about before I read The Futilitarians. Anne Gisleson and her husband Brad chose to create the Existential Crisis Reading Group (nicknamed The Futilitarians) to focus on the question of how people move on in the face of great loss. Anne lost two younger sisters to suicide, weathered Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and lost her father to cancer. Feeling burdened by her many losses, she strove to find a way to carry on using the group’s monthly meetings and reading choices as a path to recovery.
Gisleson chronicles a year of the Futilitarians’ meetings including their reading choices for each month. I enjoyed some months more than others but learned a lot as I followed her path to find meaning in her life. I am glad I received it as part of Little, Brown’s Ambassador program; I doubt I would not have chosen it myself, and it was well worth the read. All opinions are my own.
epictetsocrate's review against another edition
3.0
Prietenul nostru Chris avusese ideea întâlnirilor clubului de lectură în decembrie. [...] Momentul părea potrivit şi pentru mine. Tata avea leucemie de doi ani şi îi era din ce în ce mai rău. Din cauza bolii, trebuia să meargă des la spital. Parcometrele, holurile reci şi conversaţiile cu un tată veşnic ţâfnos, frica paralizantă care mă‑ncerca în lift coborând din secţia de oncologie, oamenii în halate care doar îşi făceau treaba. Mic dejunuri săptămânale cu mama, care avea nevoie s‑o asculte cineva. Copiii noştri creşteau şi nevoile lor deveneau tot mai complicate. M‑am văzut prinsă în vârtejul neaşteptat al vârstei mijlocii: mă străduiam să ţin echilibrul între tinereţe şi îmbătrânire, în corpul meu, în mintea mea, în familia mea. Dar, fireşte, nici pomeneală de vreun echilibru, doar o luptă surdă, zi de zi, aproape fără excepţie. În plus, o mare parte din viaţa mea de adult a fost marcată de crize. O ţineam din lac în puţ. Pe la douăzeci şi ceva de ani, la scurt timp după ce‑am terminat masteratul şi aveam impresia că păşeam mai realizată sau măcar calificată în viaţă, sora mea mai mică, Rebecca, s‑a sinucis. Un an şi jumătate mai târziu, tocmai când începeam să mă simt iarăşi normal, s‑a sinucis şi geamăna ei identică, Rachel. Am fost opt copii la părinţi. Acum mai rămăseserăm şase, patru fete şi doi băieţi, un sfert dintre urmaşi pieriseră. Să‑ţi pierzi o soră sau un frate, mai ales de tineri, este o lovitură ieşită din comun, e o ruptură în istoria comună şi în ADN care‑ţi schilodeşte identitatea. Vechea ta viaţă s‑a făcut ţăndări, noua ta viaţă capătă contururi incerte, năpădită de ruşine şi durere. Şi încă n‑am spus nimic. Când durerea s‑a mai atenuat şi viaţa şi‑a reluat cursul, am cunoscut un bărbat cumsecade, amuzant, cu preocupări artistice şi chipeş, pe numele lui Brad. Trecuse şi el prin traumele lui. Tovarăşa de viaţă murise cu un an în urmă din cauza unei tumori pe creier, la vârsta de 33 de ani, şi îl lăsase cu un fiu de trei ani. Eram amândoi prieteni vechi cu suferinţa, dar eram hotărâţi să‑i facem faţă şi să ne bucurăm de viaţă. Ne‑am căsătorit chiar în acel an. La scurt timp după întoarcerea din Mexic, din luna de miere, am fost siliţi să ne părăsim casa când uraganul Katrina a distrus o mare parte din oraş. Goniţi din căminul nostru, în stare de şoc, ne‑am construit noua familie pe drum, cu un fel de libertate proprie refugiaţilor şi mânaţi de o iubire impetuoasă. Când am putut să ne întoarcem într‑un final acasă, am fost copleşiţi şi de viaţă, nu doar de distrugere: ne‑am dat seama că în luna de miere din Mexic, undeva în Oaxaca, printre sticlele de mescal savuros, rămăsesem gravidă. În primii cinci ani de după uragan, am funcţionat în regim de supravieţuire, cu doi băieţi de vârste mici, în vreme ce Brad şi cu mine ne implicam în acţiuni civice şi făceam eforturi istovitoare pentru reconstrucţie.
cuocuo's review against another edition
I got about 40 pages in but it didn't hold my interest and life is too short yada yada so I quit. Probably just not the right thing for me right now.
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