2012: #55 – Everybody into the Pool (Beth Lisick)
Title: Everybody Into The Pool: True Tales
Author: Beth Lisick
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Release Date: 2005
Publisher: Avon
Source: personal copy
Beth Lisick started out as a homecoming princess with a Crisco-aided tan and a bad perm. And then everything changed. Plunging headlong into America’s deepest subcultures, while keeping both feet firmly planted in her parents’ Leave It to Beaver values, Lisick makes her adult home on the fringe of mainstream culture and finds it rich with paradox and humor. On the one hand, she lives in “Brokeley” with drug dealers and street gangs; on the other, she drives a station wagon with a baby seat in the back, makes her own chicken stock, and attends ladies’ luncheons. How exactly did this suburban girl-next-door end up as one of San Francisco’s foremost chroniclers of alternative culture? Lisick explains it all in her hilarious, irreverent, bestselling memoir, Everybody into the Pool.
Fans of David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell will relish Lisick’s scathingly funny, smart, very real take on the effluvia of daily living. No matter what community she’s exposing to the light, Lisick always hits the right chord.
My thoughts:
This book goes solidly into the “not for me” pile. I didn’t find Lisick’s alternative lifestyle interesting, or humorous, or in the least bit respectable or necessary. I’m sure it would appeal to some, hence the two stars instead of just one, but in my case, I’m just glad it’s off of my to-be-read shelf.
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat
Other reviews:
- “Lisick tackles topics such as adolescence, sexuality, race, and socio-economic class with ease, wit, and a sparkling sense of humor.” — Bookslut
- “While I would hardly call the book a must-read or anything near great literature, Everybody into the Pool did live up to its name and make good poolside reading.” — Reading for Robin
Sometimes books like this are just too over the top.
First of all, I love your new blog design, it is been a while since I have been here. It is fun! Love that you added a photo.
This doesn’t look like a book I would enjoy either.