Review: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jenny Lawson is hilarious...that's the first thing to know about her. The second thing is that she's full of differences--and who among us doesn't have some?--but she's brave enough to share hers. She deals with anxiety and depression issues along with rheumatoid arthritis and a host of other issues that I don't even remember. I don't remember them because they're simply a part of who she is, but those things don't define her. They're part of her, she owns them, she is open and up front about them. But she's also funny, smart, knowledgeable about human psychology, a mom determined for her child to have the best of her childhood without the pain, and owner of some pretty funny cats and dogs (who else would name her cats Ferris Mewler, Hunter S. Thomcat, and Rolly, and her dog Dorothy Barker?), who she dresses up for Halloween. And she has a mouth to beat the band. I'm grateful that she would be out there saying "yeah, I have issues, and I'm okay with that" but mostly, I'm busy laughing. You can't read her stories and not laugh as well. The audio isn't available yet, or I totally would have listened to it, as Jenny's narration of her first book made it even better. One note: This is Jenny's second book, and it focuses on her experiences with all these issues. Her first book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, is more of a memoir, describing her childhood in Texas. She lived in a small, rural town and is the daughter of a taxidermist, so there were parts of this memoir that were entirely too honest about things that happen to animals, and I had to kind of move quickly through those. I think she herself is kind to animals, but fair warning that there are some graphic descriptions, particularly in the first book, that are difficult for people like me who are extra sensitive about animals.

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