Book Review: I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag

We’re back in the land of the memoir, and this one is a doozy.  My review copy of I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag was provided courtesy of LuxuryReading.com, which also hosted the original (shorter) post of this book review on June 30, 2012 (available here).

***

I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag

What a clever, sassy title.  Almost as clever and sassy as Jennifer Gilbert herself.  The Jennifer Gilbert of the opening part of this extremely well-written, thoughtful, and deftly-handled memoir about a life interrupted, that is.  That Jennifer Gilbert is nearly lost for much of the book – and many many years – after a horrific violent crime that occurs when she is barely an adult.  She is found again, mercifully and thankfully, before the book closes (that’s not really a spoiler; you’d hardly expect a memoir to not travel a full circle, now would you?), leaving us, hopefully, many more years of Jennifer’s particular brand of sass – and hopefully another foray into book-writing.

This is an absolutely surreal tale.  I watch the news – I know horrific things happen all the time.  But until you read through the full set of details in a book like this, they don’t hit home – at least, they never did for me.

I cannot even imagine a more dissonant set of life-events.  From a relatively cosseted, protective-bubble of a childhood/young adulthood to a shattering burst of all-too-real reality – the kind of reality that gets highlighted on the evening news and CNN.  Jennifer’s tale of survival and the redemption of her own life is an amazing one.  Literally.  I cannot believe anyone could travel through the tunnel she did and come out the other side with the light, the grace, and the ability to brutally and frankly self-analyze that she did.  Her story is a lovely journey of self-realization and, ultimately, self-salvation – lovelier for the extreme ugliness of the event that led her to have to travel it.

She deftly navigates her way through mental health issues, avoidance, recovery, self-abnegation, and the pain of missed and lost opportunities – in a voice that doesn’t beg for pity or ask for anything at all beyond the chance to be heard.  The writing is clear, crisp, and focused.  At times it is brutally honest – at others, simply brutal.  This is a powerful piece of writing, difficult to read at times, but well worth the difficulty.  If she could live through it, we can read about it – and learn something from her experience.

I cannot even imagine the strength it must have taken to write a memoir like this.  Kudos to you, Jennifer Gilbert.  Not only have you made your voice heard, offering others the benefit of your travails, but you’ve also demonstrated a sharp story-telling ability.  It’s a deft piece of writing, and I do hope we see more (on much happier notes) from you in the future…