Lying : A Metaphorical Memoir

Rating:
Summary: stunning
Review: This is, simply, the best memoir available in contemporary American letters. Slater here tells a gripping story of spiritual and moral awakening in beautiful prose. At the same time, this memoir explores the contradictions and possibilities at the heart of this new creative non fiction form, and she does this in a way that is not pretentious or overly "post modern," but that is exacting and exciting. Slater's book in many ways is like Dave Egger's book, A Heartbreaking work Of Staggering Genius in its innovative and oftentimes hilarious and heartbreaking sttructure and theme, but Slater's book is better, because while Eggers plays some neat narrative tricks, they never integrate with the deeper meaning of his work. Lying integrates form and function gorgeously. It will make you laugh, cry, and think. Congratulations, Lauren Slater, on a brilliant book.

Rating:
Summary: Eye Opening and Mind Teasing!
Review: Wow! This book was incredible. I am taking an autobiography class right now and it was a required reading. This is probably one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Slater writes this book from an interesting perspective. As I was reading it I thought it was similar to the movie A Beautiful Mind. Like A Beautiful Mind you see her story directly through her eyes and from her perspective. Eventhough the reader is left wodnering what is real in her story, she does a great job of leading the reader through her story/her lie. In the beginning you read her story, beleiving what she says is the truth, but by the end you have no idea what the truth is. Some of my classmates said that they got frustrated with not knowing what the truth was, one literally threw the book across the room when she was reading. I, however, didn't get frustrated with it, but for some twisted reason I just saw it as looking at the world through her eyes. I mean afterall it is her autobiography, just because it isn't a fact doesn't neccessarily mean it isn't how she felt or what she expereinced. She even says this is a metaphorical memior and through it you can see that it wasn't about the events of her life but about her innerself, her emotions, and her perceptions of life. Overall though this book was excellent. It was hard to put it down and it constantly kept my attention. Definately a must read!