Book Review: Broken (In the Best Possible Way) by Jenny Lawson

 

Broken (in the Best Possible Way)

by Jenny Lawson

It’s been a while since I read a Jenny Lawson book, she’s only put three others out, and I had somewhat forgotten just how funny she is. I remembered laughing out loud at some things, but not how I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, and how I laughed until I couldn’t even talk.

Part of it is that her phrasing seem totally alien to me and hysterical, but then sometimes she relates something someone else said and it’s just as unusual, so maybe part of it is that she lives in Texas.

“ADD … gives me the attention level of a kitten on cocaine.”

I also didn’t remember how poignant and beautiful some of her writing can be. This book was a great reminder. In fact, I think it may be her best book yet.

“The anxiety attacks never really went away. They would get better and worse throughout my life, with no real rhyme or reason. Over the years I’d hide in bathrooms and closets and books. And mostly in myself. It was a lonely place to be, but safe.”

Now, if you’re offended by swearing, I wouldn’t recommend this book for you, but that’s about the only reason I wouldn’t recommend this book. Jenny is honest to a fault and bravely shares ALL of her fears and foibles.

Reflecting on seeing something beautiful because she was having an anxiety attack and couldn’t go out like she planned on, she says, “I considered it a sign that perhaps there is a path I’m supposed to be on. It’s not the same path that everyone else takes, and that can be hard and lonely…”

Her re-writing of truisms was spot on. “LIVE AS IF IT’S THE LAST DAY OF YOUR LIFE… Except don’t, because that sounds awful … I’d spend all day in tears if someone said I was going to die at midnight. That’s like having to have fun at gunpoint.”

She shares her chronicle of TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) therapy to combat her anxiety and depression then shares snippets of her journey afterward about how things were better for her, what stayed better, and what got worse again. It’s fascinating, for anyone who is interested in science, who might be considering the therapy, or who just wants to take that journey with her.

Her chapter titles are just as funny as her writing and give you the flavor of the book, like “That Time I Got Haunted by Lizards With Bike Horns,” or “Up Divorce Creek Without a Paddle (Because the Guide Didn’t Trust Me Not to Push Victor Overboard with It),” and I LOVED “Editing is Hell. Mostly for Editors.” The chapter “And That’s Why I Can Never Go Back to the Post Office Again” was hysterical and had me texting a good friend to make sure she knew this book was out so she would read it.

This is one of those books that you don’t want to put down, you just want to keep reading more, more, more, even while knowing you should slow down because you don’t want it to end. I loved this book, it is so human and funny and beautiful. It is definitely broken in the BEST possible way.