Half a Life

Rating:
Summary: Very Enjoyable Memoir
Review: I flew this book and felt very satisfied at the end. Ciment tells us just the right amount about her childhood to help us understand the sometimes bizarre and devious adventures she survived. Ciment did a great job, too, of throwing in appropiate historical and cultural markers. Worth reading!

Rating:
Summary: read it in one sitting
Review: I read this book in a single afternoon, devouring it. The words, visuals that Jill Ciment (sounds like concrete) uses are fantastic. So real. What a true voice. It DOES read like fiction. I had to keep remembering that this really happened to the face on the cover. A real person went through the hell that was her father and home-life. A disturbing childhood, disturbing pre-adulthood. But fabulous story. Read this one!.

Rating:
Summary: What's the point
Review: I write this review to warn readers who may be misled by other reviews. This is an updated David Copperfield without the same zing.

I don't see the point of the book, just as a chronicle of one's sufferings. At the end of all this, jill makes it big by cheating.

In my opinion, in terms of the story itself either, there has to be something clever and funny, or there should be something deep, universal and touching. Unfortunately, this book fails on both counts.

I would advice others to go back to David Copperfield or Great expectations. They are far more enjoyable.