Fiction Ruined My Family Paperback – November 6, 2012

Not sure who Durst is since I'm not a watcher of sitcoms but talk about a sailor's mouth and a sailor's life. If you're ready to be entertained (or shocked), Durst writes like a funny drunk sitting next to you, rattling her life story at a pace that sort of wants to buy her another drink. And what a life, a father who wants to write the great American novel at the price of ignoring his family, all so that he can become famous and gain the love of his family. Gee, sound familiar? So Durst and her mom (who's about as wild as Durst) and her sibling sister have to go it on their own and go they do, sort of like gypsies on acid. You'll read and be both attracted and repulsed as if to say this is someone I'd marry one minute and immediately thinking WHAT was I thinking the next. All in all, the book holds up for 3/4 of the way (her section on getting crabs --yes, those sort of crabs-- is pretty hilarious). But when her life starts to come together, it (the writing) ironically begins or peter out. Go figure...

I was so looking forward to reading this book. I really wanted a good laugh out loud book to see me through the darkest days of winter. There are some parts in the book where I chuckled or smiled, but the only part that made me run into the living room and read a section out loud to my husband was when the author and her sisters reenacted a TV movie about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, with the author unwittingly being cast in the role of Patty Hearst. That struck me funny since I well remember Patty Hearst's whole ordeal and tragedy does become comedy at some point.A skilled writer, Ms. Darst has a talent for portraying the people she knows in a way that makes them stay in one's mind after the book is finished. It's been a few days now since I finished her book and I still can't get her poor mother out of my mind.However, the cliche "some things are better left unsaid" applies to this book. I don't want to read about one's adventures with crabs -- and I'm not talking about the kind that are fished out of the ocean. There are a couple of other parts too, but reading is subjective so I'll leave that alone. I do admire the author's bravery in laying it all out there for everyone to read.This book is worth its price in its treatment of the act of writing and the importance of language. To quote Ms. Darst who was referring to her father, "To ignore language was akin to ignoring the very person you were speaking to, rude, uncaring, unfeeling, cold. It was a way to connect and also to woo, to charm, to manipulate, it was a tool for love, for survival. Your words were you." In spite of all his faults, Dad did manage to pass along a love for language and books to his daughter so he's not all bad in my books.Alcohol ruined Ms. Darst's family, not fiction.I have a feeling that if I had listened to Ms. Darst read her book out loud, it might have been funnier. Her voice would have added inflections to the prose that only a human voice can.I look forward to reading more of Ms. Darst's works. Oh, and the "Humans doing, not humans being." To Ms. Darst, that's the difference between NYC and LA. Clever.

Many reviews compared this book to Jeannette Walls' memoir, The Glass Castle, and I do think the two books are similar (although this one is definitely funnier). Certainly, if you liked The Glass Castle, you will probably like Fiction Ruined My Family.It's somewhat of a tragi-comedy - Darst is able to inject humor into a childhood that was pretty heartbreaking. She is honest and doesn't sugarcoat any unpleasant experiences, both her own and her family's. So much so that I wonder if any family members are still speaking to her after reading this book! She doesn't spare any of them their most embarrassing moments being described in minute detail for the world to read! And, there are some doozies in there - i.e. if gross-out humor bothers you, probably best to avoid this book.Darst basically lives her adult life with the sole purpose of creating situations that may result in great writing material. This involves rarely holding a steady job, living in squalor, and acting like she is 22 well into her mid-thirties. But, her strategy worked and she got a very entertaining memoir out of it all! Though this is kind of a fun book, it is well-written and more than just a memoir of drunken escapades.For more reviews, check out my blog, Sarah's Book Shelves.

Jeanne Darst came from a family with some money, and her father didn’t have to work. He says he’s going to write some great novel, but all he does is live the life of the narcissistic old-money prince, leaving his daughters an inheritance of a false legacy. However, this isn’t a tragedy, because her family isn’t really ruined. It’s not a comedy either, because there are no surprises. Her father leaves the old life of the house in the country for a tiny apartment in Manhattan’s West Village. She leaves to live in Brooklyn, then Manhattan, get married, have a kid, an amicable divorce. Her father ends up changing; after his kids are grown and flown, he becomes a substitute teacher, and does a great job.While this book is well written, and the writer has obvious talent, I didn’t enjoy reading it. While her family was a little crazy, it was nowhere near as crazy as The Glass Castle or The Liar’s Club, or dysfunctional like Burn Down the Ground. The title seems more of a joke, like something you’d see on Jerry Springer. I can just picture Darst and her sister going on a talk show and saying “my father was a deluded wannabe writer who tricked me into thinking he’d be the next William Styron.”I never saw this book in paperback, it never caught on. I will, however, give the author credit for trying. Maybe her next book will focus on her own life? There’s got to be something interesting about 1990’s New York.