Customer Reviews

Dumbfounded: Big Money. Big Hair. Big Problems. Or Why Having It All Isn't for Sissies.

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On the back cover of DUMBFOUNDED, Matt Rothschild is said to be "the man David Sedaris could have been if he'd been part of an esteemed family on Manhattan's Upper East Side." Likening yourself to a famous writer is always a no-no for emerging authors, but Rothschild's memoir lives up to the comparison. While he doesn't yet have the near-flawless style of Sedaris, this first memoir is not something to be discounted or brushed off as amateur.

Rothschild was raised by his grandparents in New York, while his mother lived her own life in Italy. Throughout the years his family situation, weight, Jewish ethnicity and emerging sexual orientation separated him from his peers. While many children in a similar situation would fade into the background, Rothschild fights back with humor, sarcasm and by singing Judy Garland songs --- one of which he performs at a school talent show. Unfortunately, the humor and sarcasm aren't always appreciated, and he finds himself being shuffled from school to school --- albeit private school to school --- until he enters college.

While Rothschild's childhood is atypical, so is his level of responsibility. As he grows older and his grandparents' health declines, his mother and uncle are caught up in their own lives --- leaving him to provide care, make adult decisions, and juggle ensuring his grandmother isn't taking the car out on joyrides with trying to have his own social life back at college. It is this level of personal responsibility matched with independence and humility that cause Rothschild to make a decision that will radically change his future.

From the beginning, Rothschild hooks us with humor. The first 80 pages are dedicated to childhood antics and funny dialogue from his grandparents, and this is the part of the memoir that reads just like Sedaris. However, Rothschild breaks out of the Sedaris style when he talks about his mother. While every other scene in the book is light with occasional serious undertones, any mention of his mom is just plain heavy. It is in these situations that he switches from Sedaris's style to that of Jennifer Lauck --- an author whose memoirs make us cry for the little girl who loses her parents at an early age.

The problem is that, while Rothschild's strength is humorous narrative, he doesn't excel at the type of dramatic writing that made Lauck so effective. When I read Rothschild's humor, I am so mesmerized by the story that I forget I am reading words on a page. But with the introduction of any narrative about his mother, I have moved from mesmerization to being fully aware that I am reading about something that has touched the author deeply but does not flow as a narrative should. In these instances, instead of being captivated by the writing and thus transported into the world he is narrating, I am propelled back to the book itself and feel as though I am reading a draft for critique at a writing group.

This, however, is my only complaint, and I'm sure one that is not unusual for a review of someone's first work. The story behind the narration is intense, heart-wrenching and full of plot twists, and this makes up for any flaws in the actual writing. Rothschild presents a boy trying desperately to fit in and failing at almost every turn. His story reads so well that it easily could be fiction, and his characters are so rich with personality that they all could have been invented. But the fact that they are not makes it a precious and priceless tale, and one that anybody --- whether like Rothschild or completely different --- will find worth reading.

--- Reviewed by Shannon Luders-Manuel

So you think being raised by wealthy Jewish grandparents in a Fifth Avenue apartment, twelve years of prep and boarding schools, regular trips to FAO Schwartz, chauffeured limousines, or visiting Mom at her husband's Italian villa also means a life on easy street?

Then you haven't read Matt Rothschild's family memoir, DUMBFOUNDED.

In his memoir, Matt paints a lush and detailed portrait of life as a complex, awkward outsider in a world that demands conformity and simple definition. Despite growing up in a completely different environment, I felt a constant sense of familiarity and kinship with Matt, whether he was describing the painful silence that greeted his a capella rendition of "Get Happy" for the sixth-grade talent show, spinning tales of his midget butler, Little Saigon, in the hopes of pleasing his fickle grandmother, or confronting an ever-increasing awareness that his sexuality might not fit society's definition of "normal."

Matt's story runs the gamut of human emotion from laugh-out-loud hilarity to chest-aching heartbreak. DUMBFOUNDED is first and foremost a book about people, and it reminds us that once stripped of all our ideological constructs (wealth, race, faith, gender, orientation, nationality, etc.), at our core, we're all pretty much the same.

Reviewed by: Cat

Matt Rothschild's prose created mental pictures that made me reluctant to put the book down--even for chocolate!

In describing his sixth grade attempt to get sympathy--rather than punishment-- from the teacher he writes:

"I bit my lip and and scrunched up my face in a look of pure constipation, the closest expression to agony I could muster." Pure giggles.

The stories of eccentric relatives, odd neighbors, and a kid trying to fit in all resonate with honesty and humor. Even the painful parts of growing up a Rothschild are described with a tongue in cheek humor that brings a grin.

My busy life forced me to read the book over a period of a couple of weeks, and I was pleased that I could dive right back into Matt's life each time. A perfect read for the nightstand!

When Matt's single mother became pregnant with him, it was his Old-World charming grandfather and New York City-savvy feisty grandmother who insisted she would have the child, and raised him while his mother continued her carefree life of partying in Europe. Matt never knew his father, and subsequent contact with his mother consisted of terse phone conversations on birthdays and some holidays.

Not that life with his nonpracticing-Jewish grandparents was especially carefree. While financially well-off, they were as emotionally distant and dramatically confrontational as the rest of his family, resulting in Matt developing a chronic need for attention and approval as a substitute for the love he felt lacking. While his grandfather was the head of the household, most decisions were ultimately made by his sarcasm-prone, judgmental grandmother, who Matt learned to ally himself with, as his defender when he had his numerous behavior problems in school, showed a flair for female impersonation, or got caught shoplifting. Even when apart from his grandmother for any reason, his life was largely controlled by their influence, to the point where they began to depend on each other more and more, a relationship that somewhat angered some of their more colorful relatives.

It's coming-of-age (and coming out) in a 14-room luxury apartment opposite Central Park, and trying to fit in with friends at a series of exclusive boarding schools ... not a life many of us can identify with, but the author makes it a hilarious, painfully honest and heartwarming experience for any reader. Four stars out of five.

I also grew up in NYC, but this book really isn't about that as much, as a funny guy dealing with and recounting his colorful childhood. Some parts are sad, but he deals with them in a light-hearted way. Would make a good movie.

This is a great book you don't have to be gay or jewish to enjoy. The characters are developed really well. I'm a 20 yr old dude, but I'm not gonna lie, my eyes got watery at more than one point in reading this. There's a lot of genuinely funny moments as well, and I laughed out loud and probably looked like moron to everybody around me, but overall this was an awesome book, i'd definitely recommend this to anyone.

Matt Rothschild has written an absolutely enchanting memoir: DUMBFOUNDED. The writing is delicious. The characters are larger than life. The wit is endless. The honesty of this book is so fierce I felt like I were watching/listening to a documentary. Except that this should be made into a feature film starring Jesse Eisenberg.

Bravo, Matt. Job well done.

Facing my own family drama trauma and its effects on my development, I have recorded various emotions in poetry and prose. But it only recently occurred to me use humor to depict a child's comprehension of situations that chewed me up and spit me out. I didn't feel like I was reading an author's first book. I felt like I had met a mentor. If only I had reached his level of insight and understanding when I was his age. Suprisingly, his memoir only covered his life up to a point. Amazingly, he was able to recognize the obstacles to his personal growth and development, and then catapult beyond them into a place of self-acceptance and redemption. Bravo! He's even cute (check out his website)!

Unlike many memoirs Matt Rothschild pens an open and revealing memoir that explains the person he has become as a result of his experiences, rather than a chronicle of past achievements.

This book is written in an appealing, easy-to-read style that almost anyone will appreciate. While the content contains no extraordinary life stories, Mr. Rotschild has a wonderful ability to vividly capture family members (including himself) at their worst in a very humorous and sometimes touching way.

Where (and why) Matt ends up is a pleasant surprise, and one we can all learn from.