Merry Meerkat Marginalia

4 Stars, borrow it

Who knew that a book about mental illness could be so damned funny?   Well, at least in parts. The bit about the dead racoon rodeo at 3am had me laughing so hard that tears were pouring down my face.  In between the funny parts are very serious discussions about mental illness, but even then there are glimpses of humor. This book makes me feel good because I know I’m not alone and sometimes it’s really good to see the funny side of this crazy illness I have. Yet, despite all the good parts some parts make me shake my head - like the part about complimenting people on their insides. What exactly does this have to do with mental illness exactly?.  I have a mental illness, I have severe depression but a lot of this book did not have much to do with mental illness.  I had a very hard time deciding on a rating because some parts were really good and some parts I was scratching my head going WTF is she talking about?   I did like the spoon theory of mental illness/chronic illness. It made way too much sense for me.  For awhile I thought I’d only rate the book 3 stars because parts are kinda weird.  But then there were lines that were just too funny and I had to laugh out loud.  I think I’m going to end up giving this book 4 stars because it was very funny and did have a bunch to do with mental illness, just from someone whose mental illness is a little different then mine.  Anyway, this is definitely worth reading. I’m not so sure I’d recommend buying it because I think I’d only read it once.  I’m definitely going to have to start reading her blog though.