Julie Klam

As I was scrolling through my Instagram feed I found myself thinking about this book. Why do I follow all of these people I don't know?! What makes them so special/interesting/worthy of my time? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Some of them aren't household-name celebrities. Some of them are "celebrities" in their respective bubbles (yoga, literature, succulents, moms). Some are just random people.

But those questions I asked above, Julie Klam digs into that a little in this easy-to-read & entertaining show more look at CELEBRITY. If you're expecting a real in-depth psychoanalysis of why we're obsessed as a culture...you won't find that here. She interviews interesting people and includes these great little "intermissions" at the end of each chapter--quick stories from people who have had interactions with celebrities. show less

The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters is billed as the author's attempt to find out the truth about four relatives of hers who were the subject of a lot of family lore: the four Morris sisters (there's a brother, but he scarcely gets a look in, in the lore or in the book) who went from a St. Louis orphanage in the early twentieth century to wealth, political connections, and affairs with millionaires in New York City. It starts off promisingly enough, and I looked forward to seeing Julie Klam show more tease out fact from fiction and use that process to explore questions of familial memory, but as the book progressed it became increasingly dull and irritating. Klam doesn't know much about how to conduct historical or genealogical research, and doesn't seem interested in picking up those skills along the way—but she does take a certain amount of pride in detailing just how slipshod her methodology is. She gives up after a day in a presidential archive when she doesn't immediately find a reference she's looking for, but flies to Romania for two weeks to look for... well, vibes?

Also did I mention she goes to a psychic? In earnest?

Like reading the research paper of a slacker student who thinks that surface enthusiasm and a superficially interesting idea is going to hide the fact that little thought and less work went into it. show less

Julie Klam was thirty, living alone, and convinced she'd never find True Love. She decided she needed a dog in her life, did careful breed research, and decided on a Boston terrier. Then she made an hours-long drive to Pennsylvania to adopt Otto, in part because his picture matched a dog's face she'd seen in a dream.

She thought she was just adopting a pet, to meet her own needs and have the company of a dog again. In fact, she had just taken the first step on the road to a life of dog show more rescue.

It didn't happen overnight. At first, Julie just enjoys Otto. She's got a lot of other things to worry about, such as finding a way to make a living that is satisfying, financially adequate, and doesn't force her to spend too many hours away from Otto. Toward that end, she takes a class in Animal Communication (the mystical kind.) It proves to be an entertaining experience that appeals to her sense of the ridiculous, and in the end she concludes that if it is not a complete fraud, she at least does not have any special talent in that regard.

Gradually, though, she finds herself visiting the website of the rescue group that connected her with Otto. As she meets her future husband, has a child, and begins her career as a writer, she also starts to arrange transportation for rescued dogs and do home visits to potential adopters and potential foster homes. She and her husband do some fostering themselves, though since they tend to end up with the more difficult dogs, it proves stressful for them, their daughter, and their own dog.

Klam writes about the frustrating experience of pulling dogs, Boston mixes, from the home of a nice, charming, dog-loving man who has both financial and emotional problems. There's both heartbreak and success here, and it's a moving story. At one point, Klam is the only person available to pull an elderly female Boston mix from the city pound, where her owner has surrendered her and where she'd be unlikely to survive if not pulled immediately.

There are a lot of wonderful dog stories here, interwoven with the story of Julie Klam's life, and the lessons in love and happiness that she, her husband, and their daughter learn from the dogs.

Highly recommended. show less

Klam is a woman who self-admittedly had difficulty growing up, but even when her parents cut the financial cord, that cord cutting included a job at her dad’s insurance agency. She had the best clothes, a huge support network and did I mention she is thin and pretty? Yet she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, sort of embraced her lack of ambition and ran with it for years. She was as foreign to me as a Martian. Her whole life until her early 30s was a refutation to everything show more I lived. It was like, through the printed page, Julie Klam was shouting, “Hey you! You over there! The short, chubby one who put herself through school on loans and selling shoes, the one who had a job at 14 and has never once worn Halston. My long thin legs and I give the finger to you and your Protestant work ethic!”

Gah, I hated her. I threw the book across the room and ran a hot bath. And spite of myself, I picked the book back up and started reading again. And dammit if I didn’t start liking Klam a little. She’s got a dry wit, a self-effacing humor, and an ability to spin a yarn about the mundane and make it entertaining. She’s also sort of charming. Read the rest of the review here: http://ireadeverything.com/?p=21 show less