Review of Natural Born Guilt
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Tabitha Toles
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- Latest Review: Natural Born Guilt by Jacqueline Mendelson
Review of Natural Born Guilt
[Following is a volunteer review of "Natural Born Guilt" by Jacqueline Mendelson.]
The Hippie Movement in America was a time of sex, drugs, and rock and roll; free love was all the rage, and experimentation was encouraged. Author Jacqueline Mendelson outlines her first-hand experience in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, California. As opposed to other books or films set in the 1960s and 1970s, Natural Born Guilt: My Tragicomedy: Happy to Hippie to Hooked doesn’t shy away from the reality of the era. What starts as a look into the life of a child growing up in the Bay area in a Jewish home, Jackie Mendelson felt the harshness of the Baby Boomers and the individuality of being a latch-key kid. Jackie’s own fear of missing out and desire for more in life led her to uncertainty and self-destruction. The author brings us, readers, through the ups and downs of her life; the moments that brought extreme happiness, desperation, disappointment, and heartbreak.
I find this book to be a significant source of history for this era in America. Jacqueline Mendelson gives the cold-hard truth about some “iconic” Hippie-Era tropes; the over-glamorized hippies of the time are given a strict reality. Behind the rose-colored glasses is a life full of drugs, addiction, loss, theft, and desperation. The author writes so vividly that the reader can see the people in her life and the scenarios she finds herself in; from family to friends to complete strangers, we can feel like we know these people and feel for them in the same way she does.
This book may not be for everyone. Finding a critique within the way that someone chooses to tell their own story doesn’t seem fruitful to me. However, I could see this biographical novel being considered boring; although it is entertaining, there’s a large portion of the book where our main “character” was grappling with the ins and outs of their addiction. As a reader, I see that as a testament to realism, because that’s life; sometimes you don’t just overcome something and move on. Sometimes, you overcome something just to fall back into it and get stuck in that constant loop. While I don’t see it as a downfall in any way, this book may also be a trigger source for some people. That may be implied by the title, Natural Born Guilt: My Tragicomedy: Happy to Hippie to Hooked , but I think it would be beneficial to have some sort of warning in online summaries of this book.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. My favorite part of this book is that it made me feel. I felt Jackie’s high; her happiness, sadness, hollowness, and grief. I felt it all, a true testament to the strength Jacqueline Mendelson possesses as a writer and as a woman.
I would recommend this book to a myriad of people. Young adults and people that lived through this era in the United States would all feel an instant hook. But more so, I feel like this book could do wonders in a rehab setting, a therapeutic read for those that have once struggled with the grasp of addiction.
******
Natural Born Guilt
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
The Hippie Movement in America was a time of sex, drugs, and rock and roll; free love was all the rage, and experimentation was encouraged. Author Jacqueline Mendelson outlines her first-hand experience in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, California. As opposed to other books or films set in the 1960s and 1970s, Natural Born Guilt: My Tragicomedy: Happy to Hippie to Hooked doesn’t shy away from the reality of the era. What starts as a look into the life of a child growing up in the Bay area in a Jewish home, Jackie Mendelson felt the harshness of the Baby Boomers and the individuality of being a latch-key kid. Jackie’s own fear of missing out and desire for more in life led her to uncertainty and self-destruction. The author brings us, readers, through the ups and downs of her life; the moments that brought extreme happiness, desperation, disappointment, and heartbreak.
I find this book to be a significant source of history for this era in America. Jacqueline Mendelson gives the cold-hard truth about some “iconic” Hippie-Era tropes; the over-glamorized hippies of the time are given a strict reality. Behind the rose-colored glasses is a life full of drugs, addiction, loss, theft, and desperation. The author writes so vividly that the reader can see the people in her life and the scenarios she finds herself in; from family to friends to complete strangers, we can feel like we know these people and feel for them in the same way she does.
This book may not be for everyone. Finding a critique within the way that someone chooses to tell their own story doesn’t seem fruitful to me. However, I could see this biographical novel being considered boring; although it is entertaining, there’s a large portion of the book where our main “character” was grappling with the ins and outs of their addiction. As a reader, I see that as a testament to realism, because that’s life; sometimes you don’t just overcome something and move on. Sometimes, you overcome something just to fall back into it and get stuck in that constant loop. While I don’t see it as a downfall in any way, this book may also be a trigger source for some people. That may be implied by the title, Natural Born Guilt: My Tragicomedy: Happy to Hippie to Hooked , but I think it would be beneficial to have some sort of warning in online summaries of this book.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. My favorite part of this book is that it made me feel. I felt Jackie’s high; her happiness, sadness, hollowness, and grief. I felt it all, a true testament to the strength Jacqueline Mendelson possesses as a writer and as a woman.
I would recommend this book to a myriad of people. Young adults and people that lived through this era in the United States would all feel an instant hook. But more so, I feel like this book could do wonders in a rehab setting, a therapeutic read for those that have once struggled with the grasp of addiction.
******
Natural Born Guilt
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Latest Review: Natural Born Guilt by Jacqueline Mendelson
