Synopsis:
Do you need a laugh or a mindless read? How about song suggestions for your next playlist? You can find that and more in Heather Joy’s explicit debut.
Heather Joy’s essays are balanced with pop culture references and her tireless crusade to spark a connection (which sometimes leans on the debaucherous side of things).
Favorite Lines:
As always with short stories and collections, rather than picking favorite lines, I am picking a favorite chapter. In this memoir, the chapter that I found particularly engaging, which quite frankly surprised myself, was “Mixed Media”. It focuses on today’s society’s addiction to technology as well as the impact that art has had across generations. Joy makes some compelling arguments that feel loud and bold but I found that I respected many of them.
My Opinion:
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
This is my first book from Joy and she had me hooked from the Introduction. I knew rather quickly that her sense of humor and writing style were going to have me aggressively exhaling out of my nose many times throughout this book (I’m sure you know what I mean) and I was excited to dive right in as I am always a fan of creative works such as these.
A collection of 13 personal essays, Joy takes us through her life from her early party-girl days to becoming a single mother working for engineering firms. This memoir is full of raw honesty, dark humor, and overall compelling writing. While Joy is writing from her own personal experiences, I found that I could relate to a lot of them in my own way and I imagine that other readers will feel the same. I am appreciative that Joy shared such deeply personal experiences with us to remind us that we are not alone in our own experiences and the impacts they leave on our lives.
I think what I found most compelling in this collection was Joy’s author voice and tone. I found that Joy brought a unique sense of energy and creativity that really shined through and kept me thoroughly engrossed and entertained throughout the memoir. She is brutally honest both with herself and the world around her which I thought only added to her remarkable storytelling abilities and brought a very personal but relatable perspective on a variety of topics.
Summary:
Overall, I found this book to be incredibly rewarding and I quite frankly feel a bit awe struck that I got to experience it. I would call this a diamond in the rough and would recommend to anyone who is interested in personal memoirs that focus on one woman’s take on just everything life.
Check out MMMM: and the music that made me here!