Annabelle Gurwitch

Annabelle Gurwitch has looked at other families’ mottos and mission statements, and has decided hers should be: “In our family, no one can hear you scream”. It comes early in her new book, Wherever You Go, There They Are, and sets you up for a rollercoaster of family stories. Gurwitch is all about sarcasm and mild exasperation, and her stories paint a false but entertaining picture covering up her love for everyone.

It’s not nearly the horror of some families, but when told properly show more – as by Gurwitch – it can be hilarious: “For some people, ‘family’ means people who you don’t mind seeing your dirty dishes and unmade beds. In my family, it means you must scour your home for days before inviting them in or they will embarrass you by cleaning it themselves in front of you.”

The first story, the setup, is by far the best. She develops her characters and relationships, and lets them loose on the world. Unfortunately, she seems to run out of material early, and several essays have nothing to do with her family being there at all. She takes herself to an adult summer camp in northern California. She investigates multilevel marketing scams where women sell each other (mostly) cosmetics they don’t need, for essentially no profit to themselves. And she checks out life in an agnostic church. But she does it with panache, sarcasm and eventual self-awareness – her trademarks - so it’s worthwhile.

Gurwitch makes massive use of footnotes, editorial comments really, one or two pretty much every page. They could have been just as effective in brackets in the text. On Kindles, it’s a real pain to scroll down to them, usually for very little payoff, and then scroll back to where you left off if you can find it. The worst is when they continue to the bottom of the next page. But all humorous essayists seem to want to do it these days. It’s the fashion of the era, apparently. Too bad for the reader.

Gurwitch turns out to be a caring, compassionate being, whose genetic makeup brings out the lying fabulist of the past (at least) two generations of Gurwitches. She puts it to fine use.

David Wineberg show less

Riotous R and X rated fun. Unlike any marriage manual or marital aid I've ever encountered. A male comedian goes to a party and sees another comedian, female, frying latkes (potato pancakes) on the stove and falls in love. She's married. He pursues her for years. She divorces and becomes his next door neighbor. Still nothing happens. The years pass and she finally is ready to fall in love back. They marry and they are completely different, totally incompatible, and arguing fiercely. They show more have a child, a son born with multiple handicaps. They find a surgeon who is able to give their son a normal life. They STILL argue. They stay together, at least for for the time being. They tell their story as a "he said, she said". He's the romantic. She'd make anyone insane. It works. They advise you. You ignore their advice and focus on the comedy. You laugh through the entire book and keep your spouse awake long into the night, sharing tidbits. I heard there's a staged play of the book. I'm on Google looking for tickets. They are Jeff Kahn and Annabelle Gurwitch. You don't want to miss a page. show less

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Gurwitch has certainly had an interesting life. The stories in this book mostly focus on family and her experiences with trying to become an actress. I very much enjoyed when she talked about being non-religious in a Jewish family and how she still keeps some rituals, because they’re just so ingrained into her. I also thought the stories she writes about her aging parents are at once show more heartbreaking, funny, and moving. Anybody who’s had to handle any aspect of taking care of an aging relative will be able to relate to her experiences with moving her parents to a retirement facility and dealing with failing health. Humor, emotion, and reflection are well presented in these stories, and I think that a lot of people will be able to enjoy those aspects of her stories.

However, in spite of how interesting most of the stories are, I wish they had more focus. Most of the stories read like a stream-of-consciousness exercise and don’t have structure or form, which made them hard to follow. It gets better as the book goes on, but the first half of this book is a real struggle. I can’t imagine listening to this as an audiobook–I don’t think it’d make much sense at all. It definitely took away from the experience, because you’d start on a story thinking you were going to be reading about one of her father’s famous exploits, and you somehow end up reading about flamingos or seafood.

I still found this book to be a somewhat enjoyable read. I won’t be outright recommending it to people, but if the description sounds interesting to you — go for it! Just know what you’re getting into in terms of how the stories are written.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. show less

Fifty. You can say all you want how fifty is the new forty, but the truth is there: fifty. Fifty brings with it all the things that fifty has always brought, and, in addition, all the current and hopeless cures that go with it. You can Botox it all you want, but old friends are still going to get cancer and die. You can yoga it all you want, but directors just aren’t going to choose you for that new picture.

That’s what Gurwitch takes on, albeit in a much lighter vein than I am. And the show more lightness helps, somehow, doesn’t it?

So try this book, if fifty is looming ahead of you just down the road. It is, you know. And you may as well face it with strength and a laugh. show less