Monday, July 21, 2008

Book Review: Driving with Dead People

How appealing is THAT title? It certainly attracted my attention during a visit to Borders a couple of weeks ago--so much that I purchased it on a whim! I could hardly wait to finish the book I was reading to begin my journey with Monica Holloway's Driving with Dead People: A Memoir. A Memoir! Holy cow, this is going to be AWESOME--or so I thought. It turns out that the only interesting part about this book was the title. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that I know who appreciates a good book. I was not captivated by the author's life story--which, in short, is about a young girl's family struggle with an abusive dad and a selfish mother. The book is supposed to represent someone who has overcome the tragedies in her life and triumphed in the end--but I didn't feel as if she had grown as a character through the book. She played too much to the 'whoa is me, I'm such a victim' and I wasn't a big fan of it all. If it wasn't the father abusing her, or her mother ignoring her…it was that her sisters 'hated' her or her brother was mean to her…or her boyfriend left her high and dry when she got pregnant (spoiler alert: she aborts the baby!)…and it goes on and on like this.
I have since finished that book, read another (which I will blog about after book club, as it is our choice for the month of July!) and am currently in the middle of a fantastic book (again, will blog about later) and I would like to leave the driving of dead people to Monica Holloway. Her 'memoir' will soon be my distant memory.
Please Note: Unlike my other book posts, I shall not be posting the cover of the book here, as I would hate to burden you with having to look at it! I've already given it more attention than it deserves!!!

2 comments:

NduguNStephie said...

Awe! I am sad... I would have loved to see that cover.. the cover that caused to to make an impulse purchase!

Susan said...

I read this the other day...I wonder why I didn't comment? Must have been pulled away by something. Anyway...SUSAN WAS HERE!
you're brutal with your critiques.
I like that about you.