I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mo...
Meet the men in Diana Josephs life: The boy, Dianas fourteen-year-old son, who supports the NRA and dreams of living in a house with wall-to-wa...
read full description
reviews
Mar 29, 2009
Laura
rated it: 
I was able to talk to the author last night (she called into our book club discussion)to clarify some questions we all had. It was great to get perspective and immediate feedback which made me like the book even more. It's brutally honest, gritty, funny, tender, uncomfortable and questionable throughout the read...although I found myself turning the pages wanting to read more and finishing the book. I can see how some people would not be amused by some things written but that's where the brutal
More...
Mar 22, 2009
Nette
rated it: 
It took me a while to warm up to this essay collection/memoir -- one of the first stories describes her attachment to the worst boyfriend in history, and my initial reaction was Ick, this woman is an idiot -- but by the end I decided that she's a genius. I'd like to refrain from my usual David Sedaris comparison, but she and Sedaris share the ability to shape each story into a perfect bittersweet comic gem.
3 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Mar 15, 2009
Lee Anne
rated it: 
Just because you have writing skills, and even teach writing for a living, does not mean you have a life that is memoir-worthy. I know memoirs sell like crazy these days, and this one got a glowing review in Entertainment Weekly, but literally NOTHING HAPPENS. She's divorced; she has an uncommunicative teenage son; she has a dog that humps things; she knows people who drink. So what? This is what I have friends for--everyone has this life in some variation. This is not what I read books for
More...
Nov 16, 2008
eb
rated it:
I've spent the best Sunday in recent memory sitting on my futon, eating string cheese, and laughing uproariously at this gem of a book. I gobbled up the whole thing in one sitting, and now I'm desperate for Joseph to hurry up and write more stuff. If you are a girl--if you are a person--you should buy this memoir.
Apr 09, 2009
Mary Elizabeth
rated it:
Hilarious and unflinchingly honest. This glimpse into the world of men, from one woman's point of view -- is often dark, always real, and ultimately extraordinarily generous. Joseph is a beautiful writer, with a style that's so direct and clear the pure poetry of it sneaks up on you.
Oct 03, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
More an essay collection than a memoir. Each chapter is an essay about a male figure in her life. The last chapter killed me.
Here are a couple of favorite passages. I've written about men and vacuum cleaner bags before. Here's her take:
“Decades of bachelordom meant Al could run a vacuum. This impressed me, and that he knew that vacuums had bags, and that those bags occasionally needed changing, and which aisle in Kmart they keep vacuum cleaner bags, made me want to take my shirt off. More...
Here are a couple of favorite passages. I've written about men and vacuum cleaner bags before. Here's her take:
“Decades of bachelordom meant Al could run a vacuum. This impressed me, and that he knew that vacuums had bags, and that those bags occasionally needed changing, and which aisle in Kmart they keep vacuum cleaner bags, made me want to take my shirt off. More...
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 16, 2010
Jean
rated it: 
This book often is quite funny, amid rueful observations of bad choices or simple unfortunate circumstances. It has a conversational tone that easily pulled me along til the end.
What I missed, in this book billed as a memoir, was the feeling I was getting the whole story. The author is a creative writing professor at Minnesota State University. It’s hard to envision from this memoir how she got there – there’s little that bridges the gap between her writing she stole, to “cut co More...
What I missed, in this book billed as a memoir, was the feeling I was getting the whole story. The author is a creative writing professor at Minnesota State University. It’s hard to envision from this memoir how she got there – there’s little that bridges the gap between her writing she stole, to “cut co More...
May 18, 2009
Diane
rated it:
I'm Sorry You Feel That Way is the catchy title of Diana Joseph's book of essays about her life. Subtitled The Astonishing But True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man and Dog, Joseph recounts incidents from her life that made her the woman she is.
The book is an honest, funny and touching look at Diana's life. Her father, a man who preferred to be sans shirt most of the time, gave his twelve-year-old daughter some advice on boys: "Don't be a pig" More...
The book is an honest, funny and touching look at Diana's life. Her father, a man who preferred to be sans shirt most of the time, gave his twelve-year-old daughter some advice on boys: "Don't be a pig" More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 11, 2012
Mia
rated it:
If you’re in need to laugh, then this charming memoir is just the thing for you. Don’t mistake the adjective charming for endearing. This book is not for the faint of heart. Inside the pages you will find hilarious memories, dysfunctional families, poor decisions, tragic conclusions all woven together to form a delectable prose. Joseph is keenly observant and is able to make her quite ordinary, often disappointing life into a witty and fun tale that will leave you begging for more. Written
More...
2 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Feb 14, 2011
Kristy
rated it:
Well, this was a mess. A crazy, messed up mess and I mean that in the best way possible. It was hilrious and fun, yet sad and disturbing. I agreed with parts, but wanted to scream at others. The back cover states "somehow hard-boiled and warmhearted all at once". It's extremely accurate. I am conflicted on how to rate this one.
I adored the way this author told stories. She was witty and interesting. But, it all felt so thrown together, like a rough draft almost. It was very rando More...
I adored the way this author told stories. She was witty and interesting. But, it all felt so thrown together, like a rough draft almost. It was very rando More...
3 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Jun 26, 2011
Katy
rated it:
In "I'm Sorry You Feel That Way," Diana Joseph provides us with a peek into her comic/tragic, fascinatingly neurotic life. Her wry sense of humor shines through, as does her huge heart and her fears. I could really relate to her and was surprised frequently by how often our lives seemed to have touched upon the same issues - I then stumbled across a paragraph that mentioned she was born in July of 1970, same as I, which was really a surprise.
Her essays range from the hyster More...
Her essays range from the hyster More...
Sep 16, 2009
HHS
rated it:
I've been trying to put my finger on what makes Joseph's pungently and accurately titled collection of memoirs so unique since I finished it in late spring--the best I can say is it is transcendently unliterary. The woman has parent issues, picks bad men, smokes and drinks like a fiend, struggles with siblings and academics, likes a good country song, sports a permanently furrowed brow and clenched heart with regard to her son (referred to only as "the boy"), and writes with mordant wi
More...
Jan 07, 2011
Erin
rated it:
I was Christmas shopping at the bookstore, and glanced at this title, which I thought I recalled from my "To Read" list. I took a quick look at the back, and saw this excerpt/blurb:
"'Yesterday my son was turning the pages in his eighth-grade yearbook so we could play a game I came up with called Guess Which Kids Are Retarded. The boy thought the game was terrible, so cruel and so mean that I should have to pay a fine, I should have to pay him ten bucks every time I was wrong.'
More...
"'Yesterday my son was turning the pages in his eighth-grade yearbook so we could play a game I came up with called Guess Which Kids Are Retarded. The boy thought the game was terrible, so cruel and so mean that I should have to pay a fine, I should have to pay him ten bucks every time I was wrong.'
More...
Jun 04, 2009
Schmacko
rated it:
Diana Joseph has entered into the glut of humorous memoirists that is currently dominated by gay men David Sedaris (Naked, When You’re Engulfed in Flames) and Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors). There have been other women; Mary Carr had some luck over a decade ago with The Liars’ Club. However, if you were to ask any modern reader about the genre, they’d mention these two men first. Is there any room for Joseph at the top of that list? I certainly hope so!
Joseph does som More...
Joseph does som More...
Aug 02, 2010
Robyn
rated it:
If you're going to compare an author to David Sedaris, the author must be wickedly, laugh out loud funny and constantly surprising. This is not that. The chapters quickly become formulaic and the overall tone is pretty tired. Yes, you're messed up, depressed, and lonely. We all are. Either get over it or make me laugh. The author has done neither.
On the plus side, it's a pretty quick and easy read, so if you're in a bind at the airport, this can be a good solution.
On the plus side, it's a pretty quick and easy read, so if you're in a bind at the airport, this can be a good solution.
Mar 16, 2010
Cindy
rated it:
first two chapters, humorous and disturbing, want more...and got it. i cannot think of a memior i'd rather read. the detail is exacting if not excrutiating at times yet necessary to offering up each character as the person they are, as he or she exists in each of us. read this if you are in your 30s, 40s or 50s, lean outside the box or escaped it altogether, and ache for a good sense of humor that isn't contrived, plastic and sitcom generated. cheers diana joseph. can't wait for more.
May 19, 2009
Stefanie
rated it: 
There are those authors that can use material from their lives to comic advantage, such as David Sedaris, David Rakoff, Sarah Vowell, and Laurie Naturo. There are other authors that can create true and gritty or insightful and poetic memoirs (Bukowski). Unfortunately, Diana Joseph's life is not humorous, interesting, 'normal,' or enlightening. It is well written, but an unsatisfying and unrewarding read. This memoir is (non)fiction's equivalent to junk food.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 27, 2008
Robin
rated it:
It's funny how I have a whole huge stack of ARCs I've acquired and I don't have the interest to read a lot of them and yet I got this title about 10 days ago and it's done! Why? Because it drew me in by the title and the writing. Immediately I thought of at least two people who would like to read this one also and that's a good sign too. If I read a book and can't think of anyone to pass it onto, then that's a bad sign in my opinion. But her style of writing and the fact that she's about my age
More...
Apr 30, 2009
Talia
rated it:
This is a different type of memoir in which the author describes her relationships with the various men in her life, including ex-boyfriends, ex-husbands, her father, her brothers, her son, and her current husband. The writing is honest and almost a little detached; and I was never quite sure if at times Joseph was trying to be funny, or just giving the hilariously painful truth about her life. Maybe both.
Oct 02, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
I really enjoyed this memoir. It is random moments in an ordinary life, but due to the author's honesty, seem quite extraordinary. She is blatantly open about feelings of inadequacy, moments of completely wrong decisions, and expressions of those closest to her. Her descriptions of those people in her life that have made a difference, whether good or bad, are people, that despite their flaws, we feel connected to. I found myself nodding my head a lot, understanding her low key self deprication i
More...
Aug 02, 2009
Cynthia
rated it:
Diana Joseph teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I bought this book because I love the title and I love memoirs. Her characters, especially "the boy" and Al, Joseph's husband are the opposite of quirky, people you would run into in the grocery store and not notice. Most of the memoirs I read are heavy on disfunctional families and tragic secrets--I imagine it is more challenging to write about "normal" characters like Joseph's.
More...
Apr 01, 2009
Lauri
rated it:
I appreciated the humor in this memoir. I was entertained and laughed out loud. I did not walk away feeling I learned very much or gained much from reading this book, other than to appreciate Diana Joseph's bravery. At times I shuttered because she was able to articulate her feelings, some of which would scare me even in my own head, in a painfully honest way.
Apr 27, 2009
Phil
rated it:
I LOVE this essay collection. It's real, downbeat, hilarious, and true. I have been recommending it to my students at every turn--I devoured it in a few hours--and I especially think it's a great book for boy-men to read, not because it's "feminist," whatever that's come to mean, but because it communicates the genuine lowdown on a woman's life extremely effectively. Can't wait for more from Diana Joseph.
Jul 30, 2009
Veronique
rated it:
I just finished reading Diana Joseph’s new book I’m Sorry You Feel That Way. I felt it was a comical window into every woman’s inner soul who has ever doubted herself, questioned her decisions in life, and in the end rolled with the punches . You will find yourself laughing out loud several times during this read …simply great!
Mar 15, 2011
Jasmine
rated it:
The author came to our class and she did a reading later on that night at my school, it was interesting to meet her in person especially after reading her essays in her book. This book is very personal and she basically tells it all, though in person she does seem a little more modest compared to her books.
Apr 13, 2009
Bobby
rated it:
I thought this was going to be one of those "look at how crazy and/or slutty and/or drunk I was/am" kinda memoirs that I seem to always read.
The book contains stories featuring the significant men in Joseph's life(ex-boyfriends, husbands, her father, son, and dogs). Joseph has led a relatively more normal life in comparison to some of the other books I've read, which isn't a bad thing. Nothing seemed blown out of proportion in order to make things funnier or stranger. More...
The book contains stories featuring the significant men in Joseph's life(ex-boyfriends, husbands, her father, son, and dogs). Joseph has led a relatively more normal life in comparison to some of the other books I've read, which isn't a bad thing. Nothing seemed blown out of proportion in order to make things funnier or stranger. More...
Sep 29, 2009
Karen
rated it:
I had a few issues with this memoir (story jumped around a lot, lots of smoking, etc), but Diana Joseph told her story with an authentic voice that bared all, a wonderful sense of humor, and when describing the people in her life, she managed to capture the rich complexity that makes up a person
Jun 09, 2009
Ramarie
rated it:
A humorous look at various elements in the author's life...from her father's advice not to "go with too many guys," her son (called The Boy) whom she can't understand, her crude brothers and the way she relates to a particularly neurotic dog. I enjoyed this; it was like a humourous memoir.
Jun 04, 2009
Su
rated it:
I just didn't find her memoirs to be either funny or uplifting, both of which were suggested by the book cover. I almost quit reading after the first chapter when she described the "qualities" of her first boyfriend. If this book was to work as some form of therapy for her, I think it failed.
Jul 30, 2011
Funny, real and human. Nothing extraordinary about Diana's life, but the way she tells the story is charming and relate-able. I loved reading about these quirky folks and their unique characteristics. It was an enjoyable read - a great way to spend an afternoon!
