Jeannette Walls

In a hurry, I selected this book based solely on the title and book cover, and a second book, with the plan to decide later which to listen to, and knowing I probably couldn't finish both in three weeks. Later, I read the summary of what this was about, and seeing, "dysfunctional", synonymous in my mind with 'bickering', suspected I wouldn't like it. So I listened to the other.
I finished the other before the end of the three weeks, so decided to listen to a little of this. I found the reading stiff and guessed it was read by the author. (And when I was no longer driving, confirmed with a quick look at the details provided by Overdrive, that it was.) I was intrigued enough, however, with the opening scenario to give the author/reader a break and listen a bit longer. As I listened, I became so caught up in the story that my distaste for the narration dwindled, until by the end of it, I was no longer convinced that a professional narrator would really have been better. Dysfunctional, in this case, doesn't actually mean that there's undo bickering. I can't imagine there wasn't, but Jeanette doesn't waste a lot of time on it in her captivating, interesting and moving autobiography.… (more)