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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
I'm not usually a big fan of memoirs, but I enjoyed this book.
Fascinating and deeply moving memoir of an unusual coming-of-age. I can honestly say I'd never read this story before, which is the highest compliment I can give to any book.
Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing me with an advance copy of Kelly Grey Carlisle's memoir, We Are All Shipwrecks, in exchange for an honest review.
PLOT- When Kelly Grey Carlisle was just three weeks old, she was left by her mother in a hotel room dresser drawer. Carlisle's mother was murdered, her body strangled and dumped in an abandoned lot in Los Angeles. Although it was suspected that her murder was the work of the Hillside Strangler, the case was never solved.
Carlisle was told that her father was unknown and she was taken in by her eccentric grandfather and his much younger wife, Marilyn. Her grandfather could be loving and jovial, but he could also be angry and verbally abusive. When she was young, Carlisle was treated to fancy clothes and meals out, through money earned from her grandfather's pornography store business. Later in her childhood, money would get tight, as her grandfather decided to pour all available funds into his dream of owning a boat. They ended up living on a boat that was primarily docked in a marina with a group of off-beat and fellow down-on-their-luck neighbors.
Although Carlisle lived with her grandfather and Marilyn. she honors several adults who took an active interest in her childhood and who helped raise her. We Are All Shipwrecks is a memoir of discovering ones roots, while acknowledging the impact of how you were raised.
LIKE- Carlisle's life is fascinating and heartbreaking. I was most struck by the contradictions and confusions in her life. She sees two very different men in her grandfather; the man who is fun-loving and the man who cuts with his words. She loves Marilyn as if Marilyn was her mother, but is heartbroken to discover Marilyn's alcoholism. She is curious about the porn business, but later realizes that some of the porn that her grandfather sells involves violence towards women. In particular, there are parallels between strangulation porn and her mother dying by strangulation. Carlisle mentions a guilty feeling of knowing that the porn business funded so much of her childhood, such as private schools and material possessions.
I had a very personal connection to Carlisle's story. Towards the end of her memoir, she talks about being in her twenties and taking the initiative to research her family. She discovers a relative who mentions that Carlisle's mom died in a car accident. My father died in a scandalous way and when I was a teenager, I learned that all of my distant relatives on my father's side thought that he had died in a car accident. It's a misunderstanding that has caused a huge riff amongst my family. I had chills and a burst of anger when I read this part in Carlisle's memoir. Although I was raised by my mom, I can also relate to her desperate need to find out information about her family. I went through similar motions as she did, looking up newspaper articles and latching on to whatever information that I could find in our family records. Information is so precious. I was crushed to read that photographs of her mom and grandmother were destroyed when their boat got wrecked in a storm.
Beyond having an incredible story, Carlisle's descriptive and emotional writing kept me glued to We Are All Shipwrecks. Her life is filled with many unusual characters and situations that are completely unfamiliar to me. I can't imagine living on a boat. I had no idea that there are places in Los Angeles (my hometown) where there are these floating trailer parks. Carlisle is also only a year older than me, so many aspects of her childhood were familiar.
DISLIKE- Not a single thing. Carlisle's story is unusual and compelling.
RECOMMEND- Yes. I enthusiastically recommend, We Are All Shipwrecks. Carlisle's story is one that I will not soon forget and I loved her overriding message about it taking a village to raise a child. This is a beautiful tribute to her messy childhood and to the people that she has loved.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
PLOT- When Kelly Grey Carlisle was just three weeks old, she was left by her mother in a hotel room dresser drawer. Carlisle's mother was murdered, her body strangled and dumped in an abandoned lot in Los Angeles. Although it was suspected that her murder was the work of the Hillside Strangler, the case was never solved.
Carlisle was told that her father was unknown and she was taken in by her eccentric grandfather and his much younger wife, Marilyn. Her grandfather could be loving and jovial, but he could also be angry and verbally abusive. When she was young, Carlisle was treated to fancy clothes and meals out, through money earned from her grandfather's pornography store business. Later in her childhood, money would get tight, as her grandfather decided to pour all available funds into his dream of owning a boat. They ended up living on a boat that was primarily docked in a marina with a group of off-beat and fellow down-on-their-luck neighbors.
Although Carlisle lived with her grandfather and Marilyn. she honors several adults who took an active interest in her childhood and who helped raise her. We Are All Shipwrecks is a memoir of discovering ones roots, while acknowledging the impact of how you were raised.
LIKE- Carlisle's life is fascinating and heartbreaking. I was most struck by the contradictions and confusions in her life. She sees two very different men in her grandfather; the man who is fun-loving and the man who cuts with his words. She loves Marilyn as if Marilyn was her mother, but is heartbroken to discover Marilyn's alcoholism. She is curious about the porn business, but later realizes that some of the porn that her grandfather sells involves violence towards women. In particular, there are parallels between strangulation porn and her mother dying by strangulation. Carlisle mentions a guilty feeling of knowing that the porn business funded so much of her childhood, such as private schools and material possessions.
I had a very personal connection to Carlisle's story. Towards the end of her memoir, she talks about being in her twenties and taking the initiative to research her family. She discovers a relative who mentions that Carlisle's mom died in a car accident. My father died in a scandalous way and when I was a teenager, I learned that all of my distant relatives on my father's side thought that he had died in a car accident. It's a misunderstanding that has caused a huge riff amongst my family. I had chills and a burst of anger when I read this part in Carlisle's memoir. Although I was raised by my mom, I can also relate to her desperate need to find out information about her family. I went through similar motions as she did, looking up newspaper articles and latching on to whatever information that I could find in our family records. Information is so precious. I was crushed to read that photographs of her mom and grandmother were destroyed when their boat got wrecked in a storm.
Beyond having an incredible story, Carlisle's descriptive and emotional writing kept me glued to We Are All Shipwrecks. Her life is filled with many unusual characters and situations that are completely unfamiliar to me. I can't imagine living on a boat. I had no idea that there are places in Los Angeles (my hometown) where there are these floating trailer parks. Carlisle is also only a year older than me, so many aspects of her childhood were familiar.
DISLIKE- Not a single thing. Carlisle's story is unusual and compelling.
RECOMMEND- Yes. I enthusiastically recommend, We Are All Shipwrecks. Carlisle's story is one that I will not soon forget and I loved her overriding message about it taking a village to raise a child. This is a beautiful tribute to her messy childhood and to the people that she has loved.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
3.5. Easy read. Very interesting memoir though it felt the author could have dived deeper into her life experiences at times.
I LOVED reading this memoir. I met Kelly a couple of weeks ago at the Southern Voices Festival here in Hoover, Alabama She's an amazing person--articulate, intelligent and lovely. She made me cry and so did her story. And she finally got to see a photo of her mom as an adult and she looks just like her. <3 Some people have so many obstacles to overcome and do so with grace and love and Kelly is one of those people.
Here is a quote from the book that made me cry, and I choked up this evening reading it out loud to my husband and daughter (and maybe it is a "spoiler" to post this quote, but I hope it makes people want to read this wonderfully rendered memoir, and when you get to it in the book, you'll cry too...it really spoke to me personally as well, coming from a dysfunctional background myself): "Sitting there, looking at her, I didn't realize how much of a difference she and the people at the marina had made in my life. They gave a child attention and a listening ear when she needed it most. When I was young, I thought people like Annie--and Josette and Pete and Gil the Barber and countless others--took an interest in me because I was a special person. But now I know it was actually because they were special themselves. They helped raise a child not their own." And Kelly--you ARE special. What a story and what a background. Sharing your difficult story is VERY special, and I feel honored that I got to share it in this way.
This is an imptactful biography abut a talented and decent person.
Here is a quote from the book that made me cry, and I choked up this evening reading it out loud to my husband and daughter (and maybe it is a "spoiler" to post this quote, but I hope it makes people want to read this wonderfully rendered memoir, and when you get to it in the book, you'll cry too...it really spoke to me personally as well, coming from a dysfunctional background myself): "Sitting there, looking at her, I didn't realize how much of a difference she and the people at the marina had made in my life. They gave a child attention and a listening ear when she needed it most. When I was young, I thought people like Annie--and Josette and Pete and Gil the Barber and countless others--took an interest in me because I was a special person. But now I know it was actually because they were special themselves. They helped raise a child not their own." And Kelly--you ARE special. What a story and what a background. Sharing your difficult story is VERY special, and I feel honored that I got to share it in this way.
This is an imptactful biography abut a talented and decent person.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I found this such a fascinating read. This is written with such attention to detail you could almost forget this is a personal memoir and not a well written piece of literature. I really enjoyed this unique and interesting summary of a life. I found this so captivating I was sad the book had to end.
Although there are quite a few sad moments littered throughout, I was also deeply heartened by this book. There's a lot of reflection and you sense that Kelly only wants to share her story for no other reason than to make some sense of her life and to honour those that helped her get to where she is now. Throughout her childhood and adult years Kelly tries to find clues to uncover what happened to her mother who was murdered under mysterious circumstances when she was only a newborn baby. It is a journey of self discovery, self awareness and questioning where you belong in the world. This is a very personal account and gives a raw insight to her very interesting life, full of whacky characters and weird situations that you can't help but enjoy it for the funny stories it brings to the page. I love the sentiments of this book so much and it made my heart warm, with her ability to embrace the love around her amongst all the chaos and dysfunction. It also tells me loud and clear there is no such thing as a "normal" family.
Thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for my advanced readers copy.
Although there are quite a few sad moments littered throughout, I was also deeply heartened by this book. There's a lot of reflection and you sense that Kelly only wants to share her story for no other reason than to make some sense of her life and to honour those that helped her get to where she is now. Throughout her childhood and adult years Kelly tries to find clues to uncover what happened to her mother who was murdered under mysterious circumstances when she was only a newborn baby. It is a journey of self discovery, self awareness and questioning where you belong in the world. This is a very personal account and gives a raw insight to her very interesting life, full of whacky characters and weird situations that you can't help but enjoy it for the funny stories it brings to the page. I love the sentiments of this book so much and it made my heart warm, with her ability to embrace the love around her amongst all the chaos and dysfunction. It also tells me loud and clear there is no such thing as a "normal" family.
Thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for my advanced readers copy.
adventurous
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced