Furiously Happy
I dreaded the day I had to take these CD’s back to the library. She had become one of my best friends for the past few weeks as I listened to her stories, sometimes up to three times before moving on to the next CD. Lawson had me in stitches: this girl was not shy about anything, if it happened to her: she would tell you about it. I can’t image what other people thought as they saw me driving around town laughing in my car. Lawson’s wasn’t always funny as she spoke openly about her life, there were times that she took on a serious tone and when she did, her message hit home many times. Lawson is fighting a battle, a battle that many other individuals are facing. She is brave enough to speak out loud so that others can see that it is okay to hurt and to let them know that they are not alone. When I first started listening to her CD’s, I had to stop and take a breather after the first few because she overwhelmed me. Her thoughts never ended and boy, could Lawson talk! She was a fast talker. People say I talk fast but I think she could beat me by a mile. Her thoughts flowed from one idea into another, into another until sometimes, I wondered where it all started. It was comical how she went off into these tangents and after awhile, I began to love it. It was Lawson and this is one of the reasons she is so special. Eric (one of my Goodreads friends) saved me, as he pointed me in the direction of Lawson’s blog. I am forever grateful to Eric as now, I can follow along with Lawson on her blog and continue to laugh my way through life.
Lawson is very truthful with her mental illness and her struggles with life. I appreciated her openness and her ability to share her story with the public. Dealing with Daily Chronic Headaches myself, her comments and humor validated that I am not alone in my daily walk with pain and that it is okay to have days where I have run out of spoons before noon. I don’t think I have laughed this much with a novel in a long time and I appreciate that she can find humor in her illness and can share that with the world. I loved her obsession with cats, as a cat lover, I found this comical especially the section with the cat named President. Sometimes as I was listening to her, I thought to myself, “did she really just say that?” as it seemed so over the top or it was something I might have thought to myself but I would have never said it out loud. I just had to laugh for I loved her frankness and her ability to just say whatever she felt like saying. I really felt sorry for Victor at times. That man deserves a medal. The comments and conversations that she has with him and his comebacks to her seem justified but their stories do not end there. Their chats continue on until the story has become twisted and occasionally off topic leaving Victor bewildered. The extra chapter that is included on the CD version on the book has Lawson discussing her imaginary friend and that definitely was a hoot! That was one of my favorite parts of the book.
If you want to read or listen to a wonderful, humorous novel, check this out. I loved listening to Lawson read her story to me, I feel that it added to the novel and gave it authenticity. I now must decide whether I want to purchase the CD version or the printed version of this novel. Which one? To purchase the CD version, I can listen to Lawson and hear her personally tell me her story or I can buy the printed copy and mark it with post-its. It will be a hard decision but I know this will be a novel I will be buying soon. Be forewarned that this is a mature book as it contains adult topics.
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