Book Review - Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life
This book, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, is a collection of anecdotes, thoughts, musings, etc. from the the author's life. It's organized by alphabetical key words. Some of the entries are short, some are a few pages long.
I've read a few reviews of the book and one of them said this was a self-indulgent work. Hmmm, a series of short entries about one woman's quirky thoughts, stories, feelings...sounds a lot like....well, my blog. Yes, I guess you could call it self-indulgent. I give her props for getting paid for her self-exposure.
I really couldn't help but think I was reading a blog instead of a book. It had the same feel of "you thought this was interesting enough to write about, why?" that I often think about my blog entries. Yet, it was oddly compelling. Something, I don't often thing about my blog.
Here's an entry from the book that I could totally see me writing:
Cream Rinse
Cream rinse always gets stuck in the upper rim of my right ear. Not my left ear. And never shampoo. Just the right ear, cream rinse. I will be driving and glance at myself in the rearview mirror and spot white goo hanging out in there. I'm always like, Again! The cream rinse! What's up with this?! as I wipe it off. You'd think I'd make a special mental note to do some focused right-ear rinsing in the shower, but I never think about it until later, usually when I'm in a public place. Amazingly, no one has ever said anything to me about the white glob in my upper ear. Whether this is because it's usually sufficiently hidden by my hair or because it's too awkward for someone to bring up, I don't know. So nice to meet you. I'm glad we'll be working together. Uh...you have...uh...
I've read a few reviews of the book and one of them said this was a self-indulgent work. Hmmm, a series of short entries about one woman's quirky thoughts, stories, feelings...sounds a lot like....well, my blog. Yes, I guess you could call it self-indulgent. I give her props for getting paid for her self-exposure.
I really couldn't help but think I was reading a blog instead of a book. It had the same feel of "you thought this was interesting enough to write about, why?" that I often think about my blog entries. Yet, it was oddly compelling. Something, I don't often thing about my blog.
Here's an entry from the book that I could totally see me writing:
Cream Rinse
Cream rinse always gets stuck in the upper rim of my right ear. Not my left ear. And never shampoo. Just the right ear, cream rinse. I will be driving and glance at myself in the rearview mirror and spot white goo hanging out in there. I'm always like, Again! The cream rinse! What's up with this?! as I wipe it off. You'd think I'd make a special mental note to do some focused right-ear rinsing in the shower, but I never think about it until later, usually when I'm in a public place. Amazingly, no one has ever said anything to me about the white glob in my upper ear. Whether this is because it's usually sufficiently hidden by my hair or because it's too awkward for someone to bring up, I don't know. So nice to meet you. I'm glad we'll be working together. Uh...you have...uh...
