{"product_id":"dont-go-crazy-without-me-9781597098151","title":"Don't Go Crazy Without Me","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDon’t Go Crazy Without Me \u003c\/em\u003etells the tragicomic coming of age story of a girl who grew up under the seductive sway of her outrageously eccentric father. He taught her how to have fun; he also taught her to fear food poisoning, other children’s infectious diseases, and the contaminating propensities of the world at large. Alienated from her emotionally distant mother, the girl bonded closely with her father and his worldview. When he plunged from neurotic to full-blown psychotic, she nearly followed him. Sanity is not always a choice, but for the sixteen-year-old, decisions had to be made and lines drawn between reality and what her mother called her “overactive imagination.” She would have to give up beliefs carried by the infectious agent of her father’s love.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eSaving herself would require an unconventional reading of \u003cem\u003eMoby Dick\u003c\/em\u003e, sexual pleasure in the body that had confounded her, and entry into the larger world of political activism as a volunteer in Robert F. Kennedy’s Presidential campaign. After attending his last stop at the Ambassador Hotel the night of his assassination, she would come to a new reckoning with loss and with engagement beyond the confines of her family. Ultimately, she would find a way to turn her grief into love.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Deborah A. Lott’s \u003cem\u003eDon’t Go Crazy Without Me\u003c\/em\u003e is funny, horrifying, and heartbreaking—and often surprisingly, all three at once. It’s an astonishingly vivid book, and to read it is to be caught up, just as the writer was, in an impossible, crazy, misfit family. Through grace and nerve and will, Deborah learns that you can’t 'screw nature,' or 'stop time,' as her father tried to do, 'but you could turn your grief into love.' This writer’s love for her deeply screwed-up family is unforgettable. As the best memoirs do, \u003cem\u003eDon’t Go Crazy Without Me \u003c\/em\u003emakes this writer’s story belong to all of us.\" —Mark Doty, National Book Award Winner, author of the memoirs \u003cem\u003eFirebird\u003c\/em\u003e,\u003cem\u003e Dog Years\u003c\/em\u003e,\u003cem\u003e Heaven’s Coast\u003c\/em\u003e, and multiple volumes of poetry\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eDon’t Go Crazy Without Me\u003c\/em\u003e is an extraordinary book. Deborah A. Lott writes about everything—parents, children, bodies, illness, sex, writing—with a voice that is utterly clear and beautiful and funny and original. This is a book written with honesty that will both break your heart and enlarge it.\" —Karen E. Bender, National Book Award Finalist and author of \u003cem\u003eA Town of Empty Rooms, Refund, and Like Normal People\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Hilarious, devastating, and compassionate: Deborah A. Lott’s \u003cem\u003eDon’t Go Crazy Without Me\u003c\/em\u003e is written with a ferocious intelligence; it pulverizes memoir as we knew it. This is glorious work by a writer working at the height of her power.\" —Paul Lisicky, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Narrow Door\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eLawnboy\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Sentence by sentence, Deborah A. Lott is one of the finest writers I know. Her keen insights into the dynamics of her quirky, unforgettable family, and into family dynamics in general, make this book bound to be a classic.\" —Hope Edelman, author of \u003cem\u003eMotherless Daughters\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Brilliantly written with grace, generosity, and a highly refined sense of the absurd, \u003cem\u003eDon’t Go Crazy Without Me\u003c\/em\u003e is the harrowing account of a chaotic, bewildering childhood. This reader was enthralled from the get-go, and Deborah A. Lott is now one of my favorite writers—I kiss the hem of her garment.\" —Abigail Thomas, author of \u003cem\u003eSafekeeping\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThree Dog Night\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eWhat Comes Next and How to Like It\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[A] courageous and endearing memoir.\" —\u003cb\u003eJonathan Kirsch, \u003cem\u003eJewish Journal\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A vivid, compelling, and highly provocative read, \u003cem\u003eDon’t Go Crazy Without Me\u003c\/em\u003e truly showcases the memoir as an art form. Dense scene after dense scene fill the pages. Lott’s pacing of information and big reveals feel spot-on. Because of masterful characterization and tender insight—especially within the chapters where the adult narrative voice enters—I grew to love the characters, even as I feared for Lott and her father’s increasingly erratic behavior.\"\u003cb\u003e—Jody Keisner, \u003cem\u003eThe Adroit Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Any­one can have a pecu­liar child­hood, and many can even tell amus­ing sto­ries about it, but how many find their voic­es, and ​'write' themselves?\" \u003cb\u003e—Bettina Berch, \u003cem\u003eThe Jewish Book Council\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eDon’t’ Go Crazy Without Me\u003c\/i\u003e is an earnest look at a misfit family struggling financially and emotionally in the 1950s and 1960s in California. Place and time weave through these eccentric characters’ lives. What makes us laugh in this book also makes us cry.\"\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e—\u003cb\u003eClaire Donohue Roof, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrevity\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Red Hen Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49532950741335,"sku":"9781597098151","price":12.34,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781597098151.jpg?v=1731889250","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/dont-go-crazy-without-me-9781597098151","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}