My friend Beth Lisick has a new book out, Everybody into the Pool. It's a series of humorous, charmingly told, stories about her semi-alternalife, but that description, while accurate, doesn't quite suffice. There are a lot of arch daily-life humorists out there these days, but Beth is in a category all her own.
For one thing, her approach completely avoids the clichés of the run-of-the-mill contemporary humorous memoir, chick or otherwise. In fact, Beth inhabits a common, yet rarely explored, piece of cultural territory: not quite "normal" enough for the mainstream, yet too conventional in some ways to fit completely into the various alterna-cultures on offer. From this misfit-among-the-misfits perspective, she fires off wry, hilarious, and occasionally profoundly moving observations about both sides of the divide. Once you see it done you can't believe you never noticed the fact that no one has ever tried it before.
Plus, her jokes are genuinely funny. And she manages the neat trick of summing up each story with a coda that suddenly throws the barrage of one-liners into a new, contemplative perspective that can really be quite moving. Yet it never feels forced or contrived; each one somehow managed to take me by surprise just a bit. After you finish each story, you want to close the book and stare off into space for a while, thinking about life. I got all choked up by several of them, in fact. This is breath-takingly good writing.
It's a great book, with a lot of humor and heart. You should buy it.
She's doing a slew of readings over the next couple of weeks. Check her out.
Posted by Dr. Frank at July 7, 2005 05:45 PM | TrackBackHey,
I dug the hell out of this book too. Was lucky enough to get one from Beth herselvis and read it cover to cover. Much of that on I-80 between Salt Lake and Iowa City. Behind the wheel no less!
Here's my take for what it's worth. I learned lot--for example, did you know that in Saudi Arabia woman can’t drive a car but in the USA they can strap on a dildo and drive it anywhere they want….?
Like a lot of people Beth has a band. Somehow, maybe as an act of defiance, she gets through the whole book refusing to even mention her band but once. Love it! (I actually liked her band a whole lot. Particularly that “teen model” song where she would do a kind of roller girl moonwalk while performing). I loved this book as the alternative to the alternative it is. Know this: She’s got zero issues with her mommy and daddy. How fresh is that? Don’t ya just hate her? Well don’t; as you’d be missing out on this great collection of writing. A smart, funny and brutally honest read. Yeah, there’s some obligatory lesbo action but, a girls got to do what.… after all. she’s on the same press as Scott Peterson’s ex. But hey now, she spares us the most obvious of details. I digress…. Beth’s not only a great writer, she’s a performance artist too. Not the kind that gives performance art a bad wrap. Really, she’s funnier than eight Carrie Bradshaws and she’s got heart. A lot of it. I identified with every page. Maybe it’s because I grew up with three sisters-- maybe it’s because B and B’s aren’t my idea of a good time either. The humor, the incite, the heinousness of it make her book the perfect 10 van reading of the year. The rhythm of her language agrees with me-- she talks like people from the neighborhood I grew up in. Who else but Ms. Lissick can make hanging out with nuns almost sound like fun? Who else makes minimum wage drudgery sound so interesting? Not 24 hours after being crowned prom queen--- within hours of parading around the football field sporting a crown, she learns one of life’s most valuable lessons: Everyone wants a blow job from a 14 year old girl. You’ll laugh until you cry, turn the page and laugh again.
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this Book from Beth herselvis. I read it cover to cover east on I-80 between Salt Lake and Iowa City. And I was driving! It was that good! I learned alot.
For example, did you know that in Saudi Arabia woman can’t drive a car but in the USA they can strap on a dildo and drive it anywhere they want….?
Like a lot of people Beth has a band. Somehow, maybe as an act of defiance, she gets through the whole book refusing to even mention her band but once. Love it! (I actually liked her band a whole lot. Particularly that “teen model” song where she would do a kind of roller girl moonwalk while performing). I loved this book as the alternative to the alternative it is. Know this: She’s got zero issues with her mommy and daddy. How fresh is that? Don’t ya just hate her? Well don’t; as you’d be missing out on this great collection of writing. A smart, funny and brutally honest read. Yeah, there’s some obligatory lesbo action but, a girls got to do what.… after all. she’s on the same press as Scott Peterson’s ex. But hey now, she spares us the most obvious of details. I digress…. Beth’s not only a great writer, she’s a performance artist too. Not the kind that gives performance art a bad wrap. Really, she’s funnier than eight Carrie Bradshaws and she’s got heart. A lot of it. I identified with every page. Maybe it’s because I grew up with three sisters-- maybe it’s because B and B’s aren’t my idea of a good time either. The humor, the incite, the heinousness of it make her book the perfect 10 van reading of the year. The rhythm of her language agrees with me-- she talks like people from the neighborhood I grew up in. Who else but Ms. Lissick can make hanging out with nuns almost sound like fun? Who else makes minimum wage drudgery sound so interesting? Not 24 hours after being crowned prom queen--- within hours of parading around the football field sporting a crown, she learns one of life’s most valuable lessons: Everyone wants a blow job from a 14 year old girl. You’ll laugh until you cry, turn the page and laugh again.