2012: #14 – Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut (Jill Kargman)

Title: Sometimes I Feel Like A Nut: Essays And Observations
Author: Jill Kargman
Format: Hardback
Pages: 192 (2012 total – 3,619)
Approx. Word Count: 38,400 (2012 total – 984,225)
Release Date: January 24, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Categories: humor, memoir
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3 out of 5

Back of the book:

Jill Kargman is a mother, wife, and writer living the life in New York City . . . a life that includes camping out in a one-bedroom apartment with some unfortunate (and furry) roommates, battling the Momzillas of Manhattan, and coming to terms with her desire for gay men. In this entertaining collection of observations, Kargman offers her unique, wickedly funny perspective as she zips around Manhattan with three kids in tow.

Kargman tackles issues big and small with sharp wit and laugh-out-loud humor: her love of the smell of gasoline, her new names for nail polishes, her adventures in New York City real estate, and her fear of mimes, clowns, and other haunting things. Whether it’s surviving a family road trip or why she can’t stand Cirque du So Lame, living with a mommy vagina the size of the Holland Tunnel or surviving the hell that was her first job out of college, Kargman’s nutty self-triumphs, thanks to a wonderfully wise outlook and sense of fun that makes the best of everything that gets thrown her way. And if that’s not enough, Kargman illustrates her reflections with doodles that capture her refreshing voice.

My thoughts:

I didn’t particularly care for this, but it was short so it wasn’t too painful. It’s more a collection of essays than a memoir, but that’s not really its problem either. I think the tone was just a little too rough for me. Crudeness and profanity really don’t bother me, but this just felt like she was looking for attention. I wasn’t familiar with Kargman before this, so perhaps it’s not the best introduction to her voice. The book definitely had its funny moments, but the other stuff just overshadows it.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

• “I enjoyed Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut and it made me curious to go back and read Kargman’s previous novels.” — S. Krishna’s Books
• “Kargman has had an interesting life and is a great writer, but her essays were peppered with profanity and slang and I found both off-putting after a while.” — Bermudaonion’s Weblog
• “I don’t know what I found more amusing: the stories, or the little doodles that accompanied them.” — Luxury Reading

Past reviews:

2011: Diavolino (Steve Emmett)
2010: The Kitchen House (Kathleen Grissom)
2009: A Fistful of Charms (Kim Harrison)
2008: Sick Puppy (Carl Hiaasen)
2007: Judge & Jury (James Patterson)
2006: The Killing Dance (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: Rosemary’s Baby (Ira Levin)