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In Musical Chairs, Jen Knox has created a captivating memoir that explores her life as a young teen runaway, to the issues of mental illness found within her family. Jen bravely tells her story about life on her own at the age of 15, leading up to a short career as a strip-dancer, all the while battling an all-consuming addiction with alcoholism. Jen’s writing is very vivid and fluid, and I felt as if I were right there, immersed in her world. As she struggles to get back on her feet—after a few
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In this book, I attempt to capture those pivotal moments that we (powerful word, we, I know) can all look back on in our lives; those moments that prove that sometimes the small decisions lead to the most monumental transitions. Stories and narrative essays from this collection have been published in Annalemma, Bananafish, Flashquake, Superstition Review, and elsewhere.
Some of the stories:
In “Soft like Snow”, a young girl thinks about running away from an abusive home, but as she reflects upon ...more
A reflective, compelling, and evocative collection of short stories.
The first story in the collection really drew me in. It's a story that makes you question human nature and really makes you think. After reading that I was sure I was in for a very interesting journey reading this anthology. All of the stories have a 'fly on the wall' feel to them, as if you are watching events unfold that you would not usually be made privy to. I use the word 'watch' as it really felt to me as I read Jen Knox's ...more
The first story in the collection really drew me in. It's a story that makes you question human nature and really makes you think. After reading that I was sure I was in for a very interesting journey reading this anthology. All of the stories have a 'fly on the wall' feel to them, as if you are watching events unfold that you would not usually be made privy to. I use the word 'watch' as it really felt to me as I read Jen Knox's ...more
Musical Chairs read like I was sitting across from Jen (the author) and sharing a cup of coffee with her. It was very engrossing, engaging, and really really good. We watch Jen make mistakes as a child, but you can hear her "older" self talking, reflecting and sharing her learnings.
The voice of Jen is very easy to "listen" to. She writes very eloquently. I wish there was a more flesh to her story, but somehow I have a feeling that if there was more, we'd get lost in the "muck" of it. Maybe bree ...more
The voice of Jen is very easy to "listen" to. She writes very eloquently. I wish there was a more flesh to her story, but somehow I have a feeling that if there was more, we'd get lost in the "muck" of it. Maybe bree ...more
I found Jen Knox's story fascinating, insightful and thought-provoking. I would recommend this book to readers of all genres, whether they usually read memoirs or not. There is so much in this story that thrills and entertains, probably as much if not more than a fiction story. It would be great to see this life story portrayed in a film as some of the scenes literally come off the page. There are many memorable scenes, and Jen Knox has written her story with passion, and compassion for her youn
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Nov 13, 2009
Andrea Kulman
marked it as to-read
Nov 30, 2009
Quentin
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Jan 22, 2010
Dwayne Kavanagh
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Mar 09, 2010
Sue
marked it as to-read
Nov 30, 2010
Steven Farmer
marked it as to-read
