Sue Bridgwater
asked:
I wanted to comment rather than ask - I'm disturbed to see that a lot of reviewers think this is about a 'disturbed' child - in fact her mother makes it clear that Nancy was hyperactive and highly intelligent, and that these traits were medicalised when she sought help and support. DOCTORS started Nancy on drugs, to 'control' her; aren't they responsible for her lifelong dependency and ultimately for her death?
To answer questions about
And I Don't Want to Live This Life: A Mother's Story of Her Daughter's Murder,
please sign up.
Lola
I don't want to antagonize, but maybe you and other reviewers understand the term "disturbed" differently? As far as I understand the term-- and I don't think it's a scientific term-- being "disturbed" does not preclude hyperactivity, high intelligence, or drug abuse.
Daniel
I remember being at the public library, where I felt safe and comfortable, and sad me read this line handwritten inside a font page of a book, and it haunts and influences me to this day. A difficult life was what i faced, and this deeply painful, cutting-to-the-bone phrase, validated me in an odd ironic way. Other people felt the same thing? How could that be? Yes, I agree Ms. Bridgwater, the synopsis is too unkind and grandiose in reveling in the tragedy, rather than meeting the author and the person at least half-way. Everyone is complex, contradictory, and flawed, and to pretend some are and others are not, is to deny both of those people being considered as not fully human or real. Nancy Spungen was a real person, beauty and warts and all.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more