Have You Read This?
“Finally, someone gets me.” -Jenny Lawson
What are you reading right now? Regardless of whether you like it, you need to put it down and pick up Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. This book was recommended to me by a book club friend a few months ago. I was reading other books at the time, like the upcoming book club read, so I threw Jenny Lawson onto my “want to read” list and moved on. I picked it up yesterday. I am so sorry I put off reading this.
Jenny Lawson is the Siamese twin who was surgically removed from my soul when I was too little to demand we stay together. I’m so glad she survived, and we have reunited — through books at least.
Here is the section from Chapter 2 which had my son rushing into the kitchen to see what the problem was when he heard crashing. I laughed so hard I choked on my lunch, peed a little, and fell off my kitchen chair. He helped me back up, but he also did it while rolling his eyes. If only he understood.
From Chapter 2 of Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson:
“You still have to call the vet, though, when your cat has eaten a toy consisting of a tinkle bell and a feather and a poof ball all tied together with twine. That actually happened once. And it was actually the worst because the vet told me I’d have to ply the cat with laxatives to make sure the toy would pass easily through. And then I’d have to inspect the poop to make sure the toy had passed because otherwise I’d have to do open cat surgery, and then it did start to pass but just the first part with the tinkle bel. And the cat was freaked out because of the tinkle bell hanging out of his butthole and when I called the vet he said to definitely not pull on the twine because it could pull out his intestines which would be the grossest pinata ever and so, I just ran after the cat with some scissors to cut off the tinkle bell which, impressively, was still tinkling after seeing things that NO tinkle bell should ever see. Probably the cat was running away because of the tinkle bell and because I was chasing it with scissors and screaming, “Let me help you!”
You see why I fell off the chair, right?
I made it into Chapter 3 before Drew had to return to the kitchen to once again, pick me up off the floor.
From Chapter 3 of Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson:
“Yesterday I was at the gas station, and I saw a woman whose kid is in Hailey’s Girl Scout troop, but I was in my pajamas, so I was hiding in the back until she left. There was a collection of cards and I perused them to try and look normal but the one that I picked up was a can of beans with googley eyes and I thought that was weird but it turned out that it was one of those cards that sings and moves when you open it. So I was standing there, holding a googley eyed can of beans as it shakes and loudly farts the birthday song to me in a gas station. It was like I was competing for an award for being the most conspicuous uncool person ever. I waved, weakly, at the woman and said, “That wasn’t me,” but she wasn’t buying it. I should have slapped the card to the ground and yelled “Witchcraft!” but you always think about these things too late.”
I am not much further into this book, and I will recant this whole half-read review if it turns out I’m crying by the end, but right now, I am on the couch and still laughing. Drew has told me, however, if I pee, I have to read the rest of the book while in the bathroom.
Jenny Lawson, thank you for the laughter.
Author’s Note: I am blind and therefor listening to the audiobook edition which delightfully is narrated by Jenny Lawson herself. These quotes have been furiously typed while hitting play and pause on my tablet. They are for the most part correct. There may be a few grammar inconsistencies. I did spell the names correctly according to Google. Yay!
