The road always traveled, but usually lied about to keep up appearances...

Memoirs can be tricky. Trying to keep yourself from looking like schmuck, while at the same time keeping the other cast of characters from being one dimensional monsters is a tad daunting. So when someone makes this attempt, they, as well as, all their readers must hope and pray for some creative tact...and a little humor on the side doesn't hurt.

Thank GOD Suzanne Guillette succeeded in this balancing act! Otherwise, I'd be pretty pissed that I picked up this book. Usually I find memoirists to fall into one of two catagories: narcissistic, blame shifters with God complexes or needy, approval seekers with pity me complexes. It is very hard to find one that I like and even remotely relate to.

And once again Thank God Ms. Guillette isn't one of these types, but someone who is able to see the flaws within herself as well as the decisions that she makes that put her into these awkward situations. Much To Your Chagrin is Guillette's first book. It chronicles the time she spent after grad school working on a book titled Oh Shit! And get this twist, Much to Your Chagrin is written in the second person so the reader always feels like she is in the hot seat. So, here's my attempt at summing up the book in Guillette's style...

After school, you decide to write a compilation book of embarassing stories. Stories that range from icky bathroom humor to relationship faux pas. You find an agent who loves the idea and perhaps the idea of getting into your pants. Said agent nurtures your idea until he gets into your pants and then pretty soon thereafter the relationship fizzles. You are not sure if it's his fault or yours. After all, you do have a pretty inked track record of failed (read: you leave a lot of broken hearts behind as you travel along this lonely dusty road called life) relationships. Throughout the story, you collect others embarassing tales, all the while, realizing ever so slowly that your life is filled with these moments as well as a few you don't like to talk about (ie. anxiety, depression, how you see yourself and the world). After what seems an eternity of debaucles you finally realize that you are not necessarily qualified to examine other's embarassment until you fully examine yourself.

Alas, a book about gathering embarrassment, revealing inner embarassment and telling the truth about who she really is to herself as well as the world is what results.

I found myself so tightly wrapped in a few of her stories that I felt as though it was my own personal story being divulged upon the page (and NO! it wasn't the second person narrative). I have lived these moments!

I applaud, commend and almost wanna give her a little hug for turning the pen on herself.

Photo: Simonandschuster.com