Why be Happy when You Could be Normal?

overall quite lovely but bordering on cringe

it’s the mommy issues for me

I loved reading this book, it was very touching and her way of writing, honest and vulnerable sometimes gave me shivers. This was a great story, sounded like a confession of a woman with an extreme need and desire to discover herself. And she did. Loved it.

I was worried I wouldn't get much out of this book because I hadn't read Winterson's early work Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (everybody seems to bring it up in relation to this autobiography) but the truth is I haven't devoured a book in this way in years. It's about religion and self-discovery and literature and feminism, it's absurd and complex and grimly funny and often quite chilling. At one point Winterson complains that there's a stigma that women autiobiographers can only write about things as they've happened while men write about the bigger universal issues -- well Winterson's observations and beautiful way with language took my breath away again and again. I've NEVER underlined this much in any one book, and I'm sure I'll revisit this many times throughout my life.

as always with this magnificently talented woman: groundbreaking, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

I haven't read any of JW's novels, so this counts as my introduction to her world; I loved her memoir. It's genuine, it's raw, and at the same time it's witty, funny and unapologetic. JW turns Mrs Winterson into a character, making her sound rather fictional (but then again, many times reality exceeds fiction). It's not too long, nor too short. It's moving, and satisfying. It's everything I expected from it – no more, nor less.

heartbreaking AND very funny memoir, beautifully written. her childhood dream of becoming a writer (in spite of her goddawful family) is so vividly told.

Es gibt Bücher, die gehen so nah ran, da finde ich es unglaublich schwer, eine Rezension zu schreiben. Vielleicht habe ich daher so lange gewartet, bis ich mich an Jeanette Wintersons “Why be happy when you could be normal” herantraute. Es ist die Geschichte hinter ihrem Erfolgsroman “Oranges are not the only fruit”, der Mitte der 80er Jahre erschien und ein riesiger Erfolg war. Es ist die analytischere Fortsetzung des semi-autobiographischen “Oranges”. Die komplette Review findet ihr hier: http://bingereader.org/2014/11/08/why...

Such a raw, honest, well-written book. There's a part where Jeanette says that even we think logically or make the seemingly "neutral" or "rational" decisions in life, we're also experiencing emotions. “To tell someone not to be emotional is to tell them to be dead.” I couldn't agree more. Also enjoyed how her sentences flowed from one to the other, gathering momentum as they went along, and then ending with a sudden dramatic lingering goodbye.

Mind blowing - incredible