Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? (Paperback)

from bookchickdi

Jeanette Winterson wrote a critically acclaimed novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, loosely based on her life growing up in a Northern England industrial town. Her memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, is the non-fiction version of that story. The looming figure in both books is Wint...

from mjscott

Good overall. Winterson is a fascinating person, but for some reason there are endless passages about the history of places in which she lived. Some of it - the parts that shaped the personalities of the people who live in that area - is interesting. The rest I skipped. Also, she tends to make sw...

from amerynth

I really loved Jeanette Winterson's semi-autobiographical novel "Oranges aren't the Only Fruit" so reading her memoir "Why be Happy When You Could Be Normal" seemed like a natural progression. It is difficult to read about Winterson's struggles, but the memoir is well written and interesting. If ...

from baswood

A psychopath is a person who uses manipulation, violence and intimidation to control others and to satisfy selfish needs. They can be intelligent and highly charismatic, but display a chronic inability to feel guilt, remorse or anxiety about any of their actions. Why be Happy When You Could Be No...

from lahochstetler

Winterson's autobiography details her childhood, growing up with her deeply religious and deeply abusive adoptive parents in northern England. Winterson spends her child wondering about her birth mother, a woman Mrs. Winterson regularly denigrates for her sexual activity. Jeanette's adopted mothe...