Customer Reviews

Driving with Dead People: A Memoir

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Holloway performs the delicate balance of making you laugh hysterically, as you read about her very tragic childhood. Not easy to pull off, but she does it seamlessly.

This book is so good. Once you start, it's impossible to put it down. You love the girl Monica was and the woman she becomes.

I read this book with rapt attention. The young girl's voice was so authentic and innocent, I found myself fully engaged by the end of the first page. The writing is excellent and the humor is expertly placed throughout. This girl is real and human and courageous beyond belief. I cheered to see her come out on top after crying with her and her sister in the struggle to get there.

Driving with Dead People is the book you want for your long plane ride or a bad weather day because it will keep you turning the pages and not wanting it to end. The story is revealed in a unique way, keeping a serious subject as light as possible. This is a must read!

This book is a joy to read; not a thing typically said of a book about family violence and sexual abuse. Somehow Monica recalls her turbulent childhood and her struggles to reach adulthood with such grace and humor that you find yourself crying and smiling at the same time. The book is definitely sad at times, but never depressing. I loved it, and found myself loving Monica and her sister with all my heart. The hope and love and determination shown by these girls, now women, shines through! This book is a keeper!

Monica Holloway takes us along on the ride of her life, and it's oh-so-worth the trip. She's a fabulous story teller and she has amazing stories to tell. Some of them made me wince; some made me laugh; others made me cry.

In the middle of a chaotic weekend, I stayed up into the wee hours for two nights to finish this book. My advice? Buy Driving with Dead People. Take the phone off the hook and cancel your plans. All you're going to want is more.

This book is a gift to all of us who want to tell the truth and share the stories that shape our lives. It is a story woven with grace and humor that clears the path for honesty that our world so desperatley needs! What would this world be like if we each dared to be so brave? It's an amazing book!

My first instinct was to stay up all night to read this wonderfully tragic story of a person I unfortunately can so stronly identify with. I controlled myself, however because I wanted to savor every word Monica had written. I'm glad I did, I looked forward to the quiet moments I set aside every evening to imerse myself in her witty, funny and painful words.

As someone who grew up with Monica in her hometown, I am speechless. I recognized so many people in this book, and was amazed at what Monica and her siblings went thru. I always thought she was one of the most together people I ever knew, and definitely one of the most talented. To think that she was going thru all these horrible things right under my nose shocks me. She has written a funny, heart-rending book that will make you feel like you have peeking thru her windows. Read this book. It will show you that incest and abuse continue to go on right under our noses today, even in the smallest of communities. Thank you, Monica.

If there's something I love it's a memoir, but if there's something I love even more, it's a great story. I was given this book by a friend because she was sure it would be in my wheelhouse - quirky, brazen, honest storytelling is what I crave. Too many authors either sugar coat the events of their life or dramatize them so much as to become unbelievable. Once you've stopped believing, you're doomed to be outside of the story and that is the shortest way to ruin the experience.

This story opens in an almost matter-of-fact tone, the author just telling about her life as if she was there that moment. But she takes us on a ride so thrilling, disturbing and in the end sad yet hopeful that I'm sure, I KNOW that anyone who reads this book will be touched even if they can't relate.

The protaganist experiences so much that her young mind cannot possibly process. And in the end, the pain is too great to bear alone so she seeks help in some of the wrong places and some of the right places. This memoir is about perserverence and I can relate.

It is beautifully written, not too descriptive (she doesn't take a half page describing a chair) and moves so quickly you'll finish before you've even really started.

I compare this book to [...] because that was one of my favorite all time books and I truly feel this one reaches those same heights of literary talent.

I could not put this book down. In fact, I didn't want it to end. Monica has incredible talent as a writer. This unbelievable book reads like a novel, yet is all true events. Her words flow like magic. Not only does the heartbreak come through, but there are moments of laugh-aloud comedy. One of the best memoirs I have ever read. Keep writing Monica, you are one talented author!