Why be happy when you could be normal?

Title:

Author:

Winterson, Jeanette, 1959-

Personal Author:

Winterson, Jeanette, 1959-

ISBN:

9780802120106

Edition:

1st American ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Grove Press, 2011.

Physical Description:

230 p. ; 22 cm.

General Note:

Originally published: London : Jonathan Cape, 2011.

Contents:

The wrong crib -- My advice to anybody is : get born -- In the beginning was the word -- The trouble with a book ... -- At home -- Church -- Accrington -- The apocalypse -- English literature A-Z -- This is the road -- Art and lies -- Intermission -- The night sea voyage -- This appointment takes place in the past -- Strange meeting -- The wound -- Coda.

Abstract:

This memoir is a tough-minded search for belonging, for love, an identity, a home, and a mother by the author of "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit."--from publisher's description.

Personal Subject:

Winterson, Jeanette, 1959--Childhood and youth

Subject Term:

Authors, English -- 20th century -- Biography.

Lesbians -- Great Britain -- Biography.

Mothers and daughters -- Biography.

Women authors -- Biography.

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Summary:

This memoir is a tough-minded search for belonging, for love, an identity, a home, and a mother by the author of "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit."--from publisher's description.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Belmont	Book	823.91 WINTERS X	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Jeanette Winterson's novels have established her as a major figure in world literature. She has written some of the most admired books of the past few decades, including her internationally bestselling first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit , the story of a young girl adopted by Pentecostal parents that is now often required reading in contemporary fiction.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is a memoir about a life's work to find happiness. It's a book full of stories: about a girl locked out of her home, sitting on the doorstep all night; about a religious zealot disguised as a mother who has two sets of false teeth and a revolver in the dresser, waiting for Armageddon; about growing up in an north England industrial town now changed beyond recognition; about the Universe as Cosmic Dustbin.

It is the story of how a painful past that Jeanette thought she'd written over and repainted rose to haunt her, sending her on a journey into madness and out again, in search of her biological mother.

Witty, acute, fierce, and celebratory, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is a tough-minded search for belonging--for love, identity, home, and a mother.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

The Battle of the Sun, 2010, etc.) revisits her difficult childhood as an adoptee, chronicling the search for her biological mother. The author ponders her youth and examines how those challenging years changed and shaped her as an adult. Frequently locked out on the doorstep by her abusive, Pentecostal, adoptive mother or often told she was "a fault to heaven, a fault against the dead, and a fault to nature," Winterson wondered if she had ever been wanted, by her biological or adoptive mother. The author struggled with the ebb and flow of Mrs. Winterson's love, finding escape from her mood swings in the local public library, where she devoured a wide variety of literature. When her secret stash of books was discovered and burned, Winterson rebelled by claiming she would write her own books one day. At age 16, she was kicked out of the house and forced to live in her car. Books and words brought comfort and led Winterson to Oxford and writing, but she descended into a deep depression when her lover left her. The search for her true identity and her birth mother helped bring her back from the darkness. Rich in detail and the history of the northern English town of Accrington, Winterson's narrative allows readers to ponder, along with the author, the importance of feeling wanted and loved. A moving, honest look at life as an abused adopted child.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.