An Instant New York Times Bestseller From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Furiously Happy and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened comes a deeply relatable book filled with humor and honesty about depression and anxiety. As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, Jenny brings readers along on her mental and physical health journey, … Broken, Jenny brings readers along on her mental and physical health journey, offering heartbreaking and hilarious anecdotes along the way.
With people experiencing anxiety and depression now more than ever, Jenny humanizes what we all face in an all-too-real way, reassuring us that we’re not alone and making us laugh while doing it. From the business ideas that she wants to pitch to Shark Tank to the reason why Jenny can never go back to the post office, Broken leaves nothing to the imagination in the most satisfying way. And of course, Jenny’s long-suffering husband Victor–the Ricky to Jenny’s Lucille Ball–is present throughout.
A treat for Jenny Lawson’s already existing fans, and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter when we all need it most.
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I love Jenny’s humor and honesty–and that she’s blessed the English language with the word “foxen.” Her writing is for you if you’re okay with raw talk about her mental health and all the strange, wonderful, painful, and meaningful experiences that struggle brings.
I did laugh aloud (as expected) reading her latest book, but if you haven’t read Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, start there. You will not be disappointed.
Broken is a perfect blend of wacky antics that will make you laugh so hard that you choke on food (I do not recommend reading this while eating) or literally fall to the floor and moments that are incredibly real and poignant. The way the author speaks about her battles with a multitude of illnesses is vulnerable, relatable, and at times even hilarious. Finishing this book has given me a new lens with which to look at the world. As well as a certainty that there are way too many creatures for me to ever live in Texas.
Jenny Lawson provides us with a serious and zany collection of methods for surviving and flourishing with mental illness.The author states We want to know we are not alone in our terribleness. Human foibles are what make us Us ,and the art of mortification is what brings us all together.The writer explains the difficulty of fighting with the insurance company for treatment coverage is one of the greatest stressors .when attempting to heal from mental illness . The author tells us we are changed by life , it puts its teeth in us , and leaves handprints and scars . Sometimes we hide them away ,which takes such effort . By sharing our pain we inspire others to share theirs . It becomes more manageable . We are much less alone if we learn to wear our imperfections proudly like tarnished jewelry that still shines just as brightly !The writer has written a marvelous guide for us to embrace both our sorrows and joys while walking the path of life!
Hilarious and tender and heartbreaking and hopeful. I LOVED this book!
Welcome to Jenny’s world where she is also known as the bloggess.
If you read her blogs you know she loves book, her daughter, husband Victor, her cats and her dog and has a thing for taxidermied animals. I’d suggest reading some of her earlier books for more background on her wild and crazy growing up with her parents and sister……it lends insight into her humor.
In this book you learn more about Victor and his little bit of craziness and their relationship. She lets you inside to the treatments she has received to help her survive the bad times.
Don’t read this in a quiet place as you’ll scare everyone with your shrieks of laughter as your eyes keep watering and the more you try and control it…..well, you’ll just keep giggling.
Jenny includes many personal incidents that everyone can identify with and some you just hope never happen to you.
A great read but not a 5 out of 5 as her book,”Furiously Happy”. This is a 4 star book and well worth your time. However, if you become upset by swearing at all, skip it as all you will do is count the dirty wirds and miss her message. For the rest of us, it is a delight.
This is an interesting book of essays/blog posts, most dealing with the author’s depression and anxiety. I thought those chapters were the best. They’re honest and informative. They offer hope to those who similarly suffer, and they’re not ridiculous like the chapter about trying to get on the TV show Shark Tank. I came away feeling that this was a book with a split personality: humorous and informative vs absurd and crass. It’s a combination of weird mixed with positive and affirmative philosophy. I could often read this only in small doses, as it often got too weird for me.
Truly, the best parts of this book deal with mental health. I thought the section that dealt with magnetic treatment for depression and anxiety was the zenith of this book. It was written clearly, explained what the treatment was, how it worked, and the degree of its success. It was fascinating. I’d never heard of that type of treatment before, but I’d love to learn more about it.
This would have been a wonderful book if it hadn’t veered off into being odd and absurd. It often felt as if the author just didn’t have enough legitimate material to fill out the book, so she just slapped together whatever bizarre stuff that popped into her head to meet her page quota.
My best advice to readers is to skip over the chapters that get out of control. There’s some good information buried in these pages, you just have to figure out which ones are worth your time. The best part of this book is that it offers a ray of hope to those who suffer from serious depressive illnesses and anxiety. That makes it worthwhile to put up with the nonsense that is mixed in.
I laughed so hard I cried. Jenny Lawson has a way of writing about her mental illness that makes me understand and see myself in some of her craziness. I love that the book is narrated by Jenny Lawson too. I have a fondness for when an author reads their own stories. Jenny has a very pleasant voice making you drawn into the book. I also loved the final addition all about Covid 19.
Not funny at all.. I had this on my list because of the buzz surrounding it. So disappointed. I’ll stick to David Sedaris and just reread my Carrie Fisher books.
I have been a fan of Jennie Lawson since her first book. I love listening to her books on books on CDs, because hearing them in her voice, just adds to the ride.
I may be the only one on the planet who was just like meh. I almost stopped listening to the audiobook just because of the early chapters of her losing her shoes that many times. It was fairly ridiculous. The Twitter excerpts probably were the funniest part to me. I did laugh out loud. But the rest of it made me think how messy Jenny Lawson is. She seems to be messy all around. I can only imagine how filthy her house is. No wonder she’s so sick. She’s got animals coming and going and infestations of rats and Jesus who knows what. I truly say to you, if I ever ran into her, I most definitely would stay 6’ apart. I would not want to shake her hands. She just seems dirty. I committed to finishing the audio book and the last 30 min I kept saying end already. Please end. I won’t be reading her books again.
She has so many ailments, which sucks, yet, she seems to live an unclean life as well. I mean I could put down all that she shares, but she’s just gross. Good god I’m glad she doesn’t come out of the house that much.
She’s not my cup of tea. Regretted reading/listening to this one.
This book is a good description of what it’s like to be crazy.
Lawson’s work is priceless. She took her pain and used it to fuel her creative voice to spread humor and encouragement to as many people as possible. While I will admit that her humor is rather bizarre, she is relatable, and that is what makes her so endearing.
For my full review, please visit: https://www.krwardbookreview.com/2021/05/broken-by-jenny-lawson.html
I’m a HUGE fan of Jenny Lawson and have listened to her audiobooks again and again (my son with autism is also a HUGE fan and her books are go-to choices for our daily commute). She talks about the struggles and challenges of living with mental illness and other chronic conditions with such candor and humor, you can’t help but laugh, cry, and root for her as she navigates life in all its weird and wonderful glory. She, too, is weird, wonderful, and a joy to follow. This book is a treat! Highly recommend!
Broken (in the Best Possible Way)
by Jenny Lawson
It’s been a while since I read a Jenny Lawson book, she’s only put three others out, and I had somewhat forgotten just how funny she is. I remembered laughing out loud at some things, but not how I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, and how I laughed until I couldn’t even talk.
Part of it is that her phrasing seem totally alien to me and hysterical, but then sometimes she relates something someone else said and it’s just as unusual, so maybe part of it is that she lives in Texas.
“ADD … gives me the attention level of a kitten on cocaine.”
I also didn’t remember how poignant and beautiful some of her writing can be. This book was a great reminder. In fact, I think it may be her best book yet.
“The anxiety attacks never really went away. They would get better and worse throughout my life, with no real rhyme or reason. Over the years I’d hide in bathrooms and closets and books. And mostly in myself. It was a lonely place to be, but safe.”
Now, if you’re offended by swearing, I wouldn’t recommend this book for you, but that’s about the only reason I wouldn’t recommend this book. Jenny is honest to a fault and bravely shares ALL of her fears and foibles.
Reflecting on seeing something beautiful because she was having an anxiety attack and couldn’t go out like she planned on, she says, “I considered it a sign that perhaps there is a path I’m supposed to be on. It’s not the same path that everyone else takes, and that can be hard and lonely…”
Her re-writing of truisms was spot on. “LIVE AS IF IT’S THE LAST DAY OF YOUR LIFE… Except don’t, because that sounds awful … I’d spend all day in tears if someone said I was going to die at midnight. That’s like having to have fun at gunpoint.”
She shares her chronicle of TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) therapy to combat her anxiety and depression then shares snippets of her journey afterward about how things were better for her, what stayed better, and what got worse again. It’s fascinating, for anyone who is interested in science, who might be considering the therapy, or who just wants to take that journey with her.
Her chapter titles are just as funny as her writing and give you the flavor of the book, like “That Time I Got Haunted by Lizards With Bike Horns,” or “Up Divorce Creek Without a Paddle (Because the Guide Didn’t Trust Me Not to Push Victor Overboard with It),” and I LOVED “Editing is Hell. Mostly for Editors.” The chapter “And That’s Why I Can Never Go Back to the Post Office Again” was hysterical and had me texting a good friend to make sure she knew this book was out so she would read it.
This is one of those books that you don’t want to put down, you just want to keep reading more, more, more, even while knowing you should slow down because you don’t want it to end. I loved this book, it is so human and funny and beautiful. It is definitely broken in the BEST possible way.
Another great collection of essays from the Bloggess. Jenny weaves funny anecdotes with her struggles with mental illness. It might be triggering for some to read about her struggles, so bear that in mind. I found it comforting.
My 18 year old also enjoyed it. It got her into reading Jenny’s other books.
What is there to say about a Jenny Lawson book to someone who hasn’t read her except to go and rectify the situation immediately? I like to joke that Jenny is like a life coach. When I’m down, when I’m feeling lost or alone, I can always pick up one of her books and it has the power to remind me I am not alone, and that crazier things have happened and I’m still here. This particular book wandered a little bit for me. It’s not my number one rec of her books but it is solid and funny and relatable and if that doesn’t make for a good book I don’t know what does.
Oh my goodness but Jenny Lawson has the most amazing way of telling a story… Whether you’re reading her deeply personal thoughts on her struggles with physical and mental illness, her righteous indignation at the behavior in of insurance companies, or the hysterical interactions between her and her long-suffering husband Victor you can’t help but be drawn to this woman…
Lawson is a brilliant storyteller, and manages to capture the pathos of whatever she’s talking about in a way that is so distinctly her own that it makes everything she writes a marvel to read. I laughed so hard reading so many of the stories that I literally started crying and couldn’t catch my breath. Then on the flip side I would read her depictions of depression and anxiety and my heart would start to pound with the tension in the room.
This one offered a lot more introspection than her previous collections, but I found the balance between dark and light in this to still make for a very enjoyable – even if occasionally difficult (in the best possible way) – read. It’s another phenomenal collection and not one to be missed!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
In Broken (in the Best Possible Way), Jenny Lawson has once again served up her trademark humor and real talk in a compellingly readable memoir. Jenny Lawson is one of my favorite authors and someone I am always quick to recommend to anyone asking for book recommendations. She has hit it out of the park again with Broken! Lately, I have been doing most of my reading on the treadmill while getting my walking in for the day. However, I had to pick other books to read while working out because laughing so hard I can’t catch my breath doesn’t go so well with exercising! I lost track of how many times this book made me bust out laughing, but it was easily multiple times each chapter! As a fellow human dealing with depression and anxiety, I can fully relate to the serious moments in her book, too. Everyone needs to read this book!
I found Jenny on Twitter some years ago and then spent two days reading through her blog. Finding out she had published a few books was the icing on the cake. So when she announced a new book was forthcoming, I stalked NetGalley, waiting for it to arrive, in hopes I could get lucky enough to get it ahead of time.
There is something special about a woman brave enough to put herself out there. Jenny is honest and raw about her struggles with anxiety and depression. It feels good to have someone to relate to on so many things. My anxiety doesn’t let me comment on her blog posts too often or tweet at her how much something she has written has moved me, but I would like to think she knows.
It’s rare to find a book that can have you swing from emotional to laughing and then give you the feels not only in one chapter but throughout the entire book. From her passion for books to her love of her family, it shines through on every page. I often refer to her as my spirit animal because her voice often guides me when I need it most. This book is incredibly hopeful and is a book you don’t want to miss out on. Thank you, Henry Holt and Co, for sending this along.
Thank you @librofm & @henryholtbooks for this #gifted audiobook.
Do yourself a favor and pre-order this book on audiobook !!!
I’m not much of a laugher, but this book had me DYING!!! I was rolling in the floor like I’ve never done before!!! Lawson skillfully crafted this book in a way that brings a lightness and laughter to some heavy situations.
This book does have a fair amount of swearing and covers topics that might be inappropriate for those under 18, so keep that in mind when looking into this book. It was 100% worth it though!!! The Shark Tank chapter was my favorite, but I’ll need to read it to figure out why