Misadventures

Hilarious and odd, Sylvia Smith's MISADVENTURES is like a more grown up version of Suri's pillow book. Sylvia led a life of almost unbelievable banality, shifting from one temp admin job to another, dating apparently 100's of men, all of whom she has jolly but totally nonsexual (apparently) times. She starts each chapter in this book with a pithy description of her subject, and then she springs into an anecdote that may at one time be funny, another totally odd, another sad or revealing.

"Brian was a twenty-one-year -old Teddy Boy who rode a Lambretta. I was a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl and we met in a coffee bar. I went out with him once."

There's a whole,story, complete with romance and tragedy and learning, in that brief description. show more But there are surprises to follow.

Every chapter is like this. I get the feeling Sylvia sees a lot more than she's telling, and she tells a fair bit - about periods, sex, work, marriages. The times they were changing during her lifetime, the wild 60's, the adventures of being a self- supporting woman.

Questions arise. Why did she have so many jobs? Why did she move almost every few months, to a new rooming house or new position? Was she generally unlikeable, or just loose-lifed, moving easily from one thing to another?

I wish I knew. Not sure, though, if we'd be friends. Right now, she makes a great, waspish, non- politically correct read. show less

For all those who suffer the fear of missing out, read this book. This is the only thing you are missing out on.

The small bits of life writ large. The mundane, the ordinary, the common, ie, the stuff that make up 99% of our existence, if only we could acknowledge it, that's what Smith writes about. It's like the philosophy of acceptance, that this is life, this is how it happens, how it feels, what it looks like.

If you didn't get it, you're too scared to accept it.

It's not that well written and not much happens, but it's compulsively readable. Sort of like a 'train wreck' of a memoir - once you start reading, you can't put it down. I zipped through this book in four hours. Another book by Smith that I've read, "Appleby House," is equally good/bad. I wouldn't recommend that anyone go out of his or her way to find this book, but if you happen to run across a copy, take a look. You could do worse.

Sylvia Smith (2 May 1945 – 23 February 2013) was a British author.

I liked this book. It was just quick, easy to read snippets of quirky things that may (or may not) have really happened at the office, with boyfriends, or just day-to-day events. I don't care if anything was real or not. The point was they were all interesting to read.

I did not, however, find the writing humorous at all. I didn't laugh or snort as other readers have.

I've seen this book compared to Bridget Jones, but I think Adrian Mole would be a closer fit. Interesting premise of an autobiography in tiny, chronological essays on the people Smith has encountered over 30-odd years. You can't expect to sit down and "read" this one as a regular book; best picked up and put down every few entries.

A selection of short pieces by the author in which she mentioned "things that go wrong" in her life and in the lives of other people. Quite entertaining, moderately funny, and I keep meaning to look for other books she has written.

De belevenissen van een alleenstaande vrouw van haar jeugd tot haar vijftigste jaar.