Living on a Dream: A Marriage Tale

Rating:
Summary: EXCEPTIONAL
Review: In this day of memoir overkill, this book stands out as exceptional in the genre because of its brutal honesty and fabulous photos. Author Blue interrogates (no other word) her mother about the reasons she stayed in an abusive marriage until the father (not the mother) decided enough was enough. The answers aren't obvious, but they are there--in the culture of the 40s and 50s, pre-feminism. I am sure there were many such dysfunctional families at that time, but who knew? Dirty laundry was not aired in public, let alone written about (that is, until Mommie Dearest smacked us in the face; maybe that book was more than merely sensational, after all). This book is painfully honest. The photos (most taken by the father, some by the author) give truth to the tale. Her whole life, the mother could barely manage a smile. One can only hope she is happy at last. (I found book because of the fabulous "links" and reader reviews on Amazon. I know now I will never run out of "good books", as I used to fear when roaming the isles of my local, small bookstore. Amazon is the greatest!)

Rating:
Summary: Wince, Laugh, but Read it
Review: Living On a Dream will keep you turning the pages with a wince and a certain hunger. Author Patt Blue's account--tragic, comic, searingly true-- is told through her own and her mother's words (from interviews). The book asks subliminally, why do women stay with men who are pathologically controlling? Finding the answer is akin to exploratory surgery. Blue is skilled with the literary scalpel. Her mother wears high heels and eye-shadow to greet her husband when he comes home each night from sales calls or sex calls.She wears heels to dance and sing while mopping the floor. She lives on a dream, losing hope long enough to divorce the man and remarry him three times. This life is an extreme case, yet it is not unfamiliar. The reader sees things amplified that she had perhaps not examined before. Read this book! Then be glad author Patt Blue got through her own childhood with the ability to seek health as she apparently has.

Rating:
Summary: A sensational combination of photography and dramatic story.
Review: Patt Blue's book about her parents stands apart from the many memoirs I have read in the past seven years of memoir overkill. The appeal was in the way she allowed her parents to speak for themselves, adding her voice as counterpoint. (The father speaks through his photographs) The mother's voice is plainspoken. Blue's voice is reflective. Together, with a powerful story of submission and dominance (the parents married each other three times and divorced three times), the author has woven a personal story that reads like a novel. It was a page turner for me. As a woman not in the same dour position as Louise, Blue's mother, I was fascinated with her struggle to survive as the wife of a man who questioned her every move and kept her penniless while he played around as a Don Juan. Some of the bizarre scenes are as hilarious as they are depraved. Her daughter takes what she has learned from her mother's sad life and runs with every bit of positive energy she can carry. I was inspired by her will to overcome the heavy odds weighing against her. This book is her success.