Tuesday, June 30, 2015

I Don't Have A Happy Place by Kim Korson

4 Star

When a trip to the therapist ends with the question “Can’t Kim be happy?” Kim Korson responds the way any normal person would—she makes fun of it. Because really, does everyone have to be happy?

Aside from her father wearing makeup and her mother not feeling well (a lot), Kim Korson’s 1970s suburban upbringing was typical. Sometimes she wished her brother were an arsonist just so she’d have a valid excuse to be unhappy. And when life moves along pretty decently--she breaks into show business, gets engaged in the secluded jungles of Mexico, and moves her family from Brooklyn to dreamy rural Vermont—the real despondency sets in. It’s a skill to find something wrong in just about every situation, but Kim has an exquisite talent for negativity. It is only after half a lifetime of finding kernels of unhappiness where others find joy that she begins to wonder if she is even capable of experiencing happiness.

Sabrina-Kate - 4 Star

I always have enjoyed short stories and when those short stories are autobiographical and also somewhat hilarious and abnormal at the same time, you have a winner in my book! I probably also really enjoyed this book because Kim grew up in Montreal, where I live, and also lived in Brooklyn and Vermont, both of which I love. I always enjoy stories that take place in places dear to my heart and I am sure that this is reason alone for these stories to appeal to others as well.

The stories themselves wove a bigger tale of her life but each could stand alone which made this an easy read because I found that I could easily take a break without losing momentum or forgetting anything essential to the story. 

Kim Korson definitely has a great talent in writing witty stories with just that type of off beat humor that I really do enjoy. Partly tongue-in-cheek at times and cringe worthy in others, I appreciated her brutal honesty and outright bravery in recounting some of these very personal stories.

The entire premise of the book is about how some people can never find happiness. Or can they? Being somewhat of a lifetime malcontent, I found myself relating with these stories and the bigger message they were sending and chuckling to myself at times in recognition of actual thoughts I would probably have shared with the author in the same situation. For anyone who has had these somewhat dark and despairing thoughts, this book will strike a chord in your deep and dark soul.

Thank tou to Gallery for our review copy.  All opinions are our own.

Connect with Kim Korson:
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1 comment:

  1. Hi Lydia, looks like one for me. Hope you'll bring it over to Books You Loved. Cheers from Carole's Chatter

    ReplyDelete