Book Review: Furiously Happy

So...I bought this book the other day. Furiously Happy, by Jenny Lawson.  Jenny Lawson, the Bloggess,  lives in Texas.  Which is kind of cool.  She's been blogging for a long time, and she has quite a following.  Deservedly so. She is one funny woman. She's also mentally ill, and is okay with admitting that.  I like her idea that one should be "furiously happy" when you can manage it, in defiance of all your crazy.   That takes a kind of bravery that is not often heralded.  Sometimes just getting out of bed takes all the courage a person can muster up from inside.  I respect that.  

I intended to put the book in my "hospital bag"; the bag of things I can do while I am recovering from surgery.  Somehow, the smile on the face of that racoon called to me, and I just had to start reading. I brought the book with me when we went to Zane's soccer practice.  Once I was settled into my seat next to the other parents on the sidelines, I opened the book and began to read.  Several minutes later, I snorted.  Then I giggled.  The mom next to me, who had been reading on her iPad, glanced at me.  I snorted again, unable to control myself.  If you've ever tried to stop yourself from laughing, then you know that it is an impossible task.  Before I knew what was happening, I was belly laughing so hard that tears were spilling down my face. I may have even guffawed.  All the soccer parents stopped watching their children and swiveled their heads in my directions.  I wasn't embarrassed by my display of frivolity, but since I wasn't about to read aloud to the entire sideline, I reluctantly put the book aside.  

Of course, once we got home, I had to read the more hysterical passages to my husband, including the story of Rory the Raccoon.  The Bloggess is known for her love of taxidermied animals, and it makes for some interesting life events.  Larry agreed that the story of Rory was 'snort-worthy'.  I then read to him the section about when Jenny was panicking while she was in New York to promote her first book, and she texted Neil Gaiman.

"Wait," my husband said. "Are you telling me that she has Neil Gaiman's phone number and she can TEXT him? Whenever she wants to? "

"I think he reads her blog," I told him.

"Why doesn't Neil Gaiman read YOUR blog?" Larry said.

"I've been a little busy," I replied.  I was feeling a little defensive.  The Bloggess doesn't have a job where she has to leave her house, and I do.  Most of us are in the same boat.  Also, I've had that whole cancer treatment thing for the past year, which I would certainly call a mitigating circumstance.   Anyway, it could just be that Mr. Gaiman hasn't had time to read my blog yet.  Yeah.  I'm going to just go with that. 

Anyway, Furiously Happy is an entertaining read.  You'll laugh, you'll cry.  You may even snort.  I recommend this book, because laughter is in short supply these days.  We all need more of it.  If you find yourself feeling a little bit more accepting of those with mental illness, that's a good thing.  If you have a mental illness, and this book helps you accept yourself and what makes you YOU, then that's a good thing, too.