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alexisrt's review
4.0
A memoir about how you blew up your marriage by having an affair invites judgment, and Gina Frangello doesn't shy away from inviting it. Whatever her flaws, an unwillingness to make herself look bad isn't one, because she does—along with her lover and her husband. In fact, this willingness is the best part of the book.
I'm not quite sure I'd call it honesty, however. It is and it isn't. As she says in her disclaimer, this is "creative nonfiction," so a grain of salt is necessary. Her rage and passion make this worth reading. Her attempts to justify her actions, whether on a personal level or by seating her actions within a feminist perspective, sit a little less comfortably. To thine own self be true, perhaps, but she (and her partners) left quite the trail of carnage in their wake.
(Small note: it got somewhat annoying having them referred to as "my husband" and "my lover" for the entire book. She gave her kids pseudonyms and it would have been better to just do the same for the men.)
I'm not quite sure I'd call it honesty, however. It is and it isn't. As she says in her disclaimer, this is "creative nonfiction," so a grain of salt is necessary. Her rage and passion make this worth reading. Her attempts to justify her actions, whether on a personal level or by seating her actions within a feminist perspective, sit a little less comfortably. To thine own self be true, perhaps, but she (and her partners) left quite the trail of carnage in their wake.
(Small note: it got somewhat annoying having them referred to as "my husband" and "my lover" for the entire book. She gave her kids pseudonyms and it would have been better to just do the same for the men.)
readingintheether's review
5.0
4.5
Incredible writing, made me forget at times I was reading a memoir
Incredible writing, made me forget at times I was reading a memoir
moorealexa's review
5.0
now that's how you do a memoir!!! Gina is truly an amazing writer; so glad i stumbled across this book.
lavoiture's review
3.0
The NYT review describes this book better than I ever could (of course): "Ostensibly the story of a destructive love affair that upends her marriage, her family and her life, “Blow Your House Down” posits itself as a feminist manifesto, and its author veers between the two poles that are the greatest no-nos in writing about the self: revenge and justification bordering on self-congratulation. She does this in increasingly dizzying recursive loops, arriving again and again at the same descriptions, questions and conclusions, without ever deepening her inquiry."
Oversharing and too many details would work if the book worked, but for me, it didn't. I kept waiting for the feminist part of the book, but for me, it never came. Worse, the book felt like a slog.
I'm somewhere between a 2 and a 3 for this, so bumping it up to a 3.
Oversharing and too many details would work if the book worked, but for me, it didn't. I kept waiting for the feminist part of the book, but for me, it never came. Worse, the book felt like a slog.
I'm somewhere between a 2 and a 3 for this, so bumping it up to a 3.