Review: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
Jenny Lawson’s memoir, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened has clear roots in her entertaining blog. I don’t read it regularly, but I follow references to it and have enjoyed much of what I have read there. I know Lawson can write manic, funny anecdotes with great style. I was happy to find her range to be wider than that.
The book is episodic, and each episode has its pleasures: apt turns of phrase, zany escalations of absurdity, and honest moments of revelation. This is an interesting and engaging person who tells her own story well. The reader comes away with a sense of having met a singular person.
If I have a criticism, it is that it still feels somewhat like episodes that were built into a larger narrative. There are worse recipes for a memoir, but I’m interested to see what Lawson can build if she were to build a work from the ground up. I’m interested, but if she decides she would rather continue putting out collections of this quality, I’ll stay pretty happy.
Recommended.