Customer Reviews

Happy: A Memoir

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm afraid I disagree with some of the critical reviews of this book. I think Alex Lemon's memoir Happy is a work of art. Alex is a poet and this work has the rich detail one finds in good poetry. I'd like to make the comparison to Mary Karr who I consider to be the ultimate memoirist of our time. Mary Karr is a poet FIRST and a writer second. In my mind that's an enormous compliment to her. She takes brutally difficult topics and makes them live and breathe and entertain through the skillful and precise use of prose. Alex Lemon is delivering the same style of memoir. This is good stuff. There are so many scary and difficult places in this book. And there's HOPE in this book. It's beautiful and I hope you find the same satisfaction in reading Happy. Wonderful. Five stars.

When Mary Karr's "The Liar's Club" appeared in 1995 it changed the way readers thought about memoir. At first it opened doors to writers taking brave risks, but then the onslaught of ME-moir dragged the genre down. With some notorious lapses in judgment of late, the modern memoir was due for an overhaul. Alex Lemon's "Happy" is just the shot in the arm that was needed. Vibrant, fearless, and bonafide, "Happy" is the personal narrative reinvented to convey the perspective of an angry young jock turned poet. Here's a voice we haven't heard before, telling a story that is entirely unexpected--and just short of miraculous. Searing and yet not scathing, Lemon is remarkably free from judgment in his assessment of the tricks of nature and shortcomings of family, friends, and self. His genuine love and understanding of others sets this book apart, offering a new take on the memoir for a new era.

When I started reading this book, Alex Lemon immediately reminded me of John Gunther in Death Be Not Proud (P.S.). Al's story is one of resurrection from a self-destructive lifestyle that included self-loathing, self-mutilation and drug abuse. Alex went the way of his peers doing drugs, having sex, and drinking alcohol -- and he surely appeared like a guy headed for a train wreck.

Along with a hard lifestyle and a really unusual Mom, Alex is thrown into the midst of a medical crisis. He starts to develop bleeding on the brain (manifested as strokes and neurological problems). While this almost did Alex in, he decided to fight for his life and redeem himself over time. This is not a story about self-destruction although it certainly reads that way ... it is more a story about redemption and taking lemons to make lemonade with the help of friends and family.

I loved the writing style (and that pushed it to 5 stars for me). Alex is so descriptive in his writing that it is a real pleasure to read and be drawn into his experiences. This type of writing is a gift. If you can get through the rough and tumble language which is really a part of his culture, you will find yourself entrenched in a very inspiring story.

I recommend it.

Alex Lemon's first major publication in prose is also his best work to date. The entire books crackles with vibrant imagery and original wordplay. Every few pages, you are reminded of just how cinematic and beautiful Lemon's voice can be.

Like any good memoir, Lemon's Happy is a brutally honest book. His reflections on his past can be both utterly crushing and amazingly up-lifting at different points through his diagnosis and recovery from illness. Sure, it's heavy at points on the drugs and sex, but these elements aren't used to impress or titillate the reader. They're the understandable reactions of a freshman in college who has to come to grips with his own mortality by himself.

In all honesty, Lemon's mother, "Ma", is a character so quirky and loving she alone makes the book a worth-while read. By the end of the memoir, you wish you could hug her just for her endurance and zaniness.

Simply put: this is a dazzling, significant work of creative non-fiction. Lemon's prose is like a current of electricity: quick, scorching, and powerful.

I read 143 pages of "Happy" by Alex Lemon, vowing to give up and move on to another title every ten minutes or so. But I kept reading because I like the way he uses verbs. Many of his verbs are usually nouns, and I found that interesting enough to go on and on until finally the story caught up with his verbal and collegiate highjinks.

Alex Lemon writes his memoir of his college years, when as a varsity baseball player, he suddenly begins experiencing bleeds in his brain. Though he tries to cover up his decreasing physical and mental abilities with booze and drugs, his body can eventually take no more. He must decide: surgery on his brain stem or not?

I did not enjoy the first 143 pages of "plot" or "dialogue" because the antics of drunken college boys calling one another names and mocking a variety of sex acts are not among interests in life. (This is not Roth in "Portnoy's Complaint," but close.)

Afte page 143, however, Al's issues become more real as his body enters a shut-down mode. Once we meet his surgeon, spend time with him in his physical therapy, and stand back to admire his strange mother, the book comes to life.

A tighter version of this memoir, with less emphasis on the booze, the drugs, the bad treatment of women, and the adolescent joking around might be a better book.

I first heard Alex Lemon speak at the University of North Texas in 2011. In addition to poetry, he read an excerpt from Happy and I was enthralled. This memoir is beautifully written, an interesting and not so often seen mixture of blunt speech and artistic description. His voice as a gifted poet is evidenced by his original but fitting portrayals of his surrounding environments and inner thoughts. Numerous times during the reading I was intensely struck by his ability to channel the poet's voice in abnormal and shocking language- the kinds of metaphors and similes a student dreams of being able to conjure. The vignette style of writing is intense and driving, making the memoir a page turner. The story itself, though it may be only his, speaks to the trials of youth and fear that are universal and his characters are beautifully developed even when we get little information about them. Highly recommended.

I bought this book because a friend told me she went to school with the author.

It has a lot of profanity, but somehow - it all makes sense to the story. This young man tells a story from his viewpoint - and its powerful. He shares the wierdness of his mom in such a loving way, you begin to really like her. He rolls around in despair and then again in hopefulness.

I look forward to the next book.

Happy by Alex Lemon hit me on personal level for a couple of reasons:

I'm a parent and I couldn't imagine seeing my child go through what Lemon did before and after his surgery. Heartbroken doesn't even remotely describe it. Lemon is obviously a very stubborn and strong-willed person, also angry and depressed, and he was going through way more in his 20s that the average person does during his/her lifetime. It was never really stated if Lemon's parents knew of his struggle with drugs and alcohol, although his mom did know of the sexual abuse he suffered from an older cousin. Just knowing of the Lemon's health struggles is enough, especially when you are the one that helped create the person.

I was a college student who lived away from my family, and so I can relate on some level to Lemon's need to have fun but succeed, and I can't imagine how anyone could deal with the health issues he was dealing with at the time. It seems silly to say, but I guess that's why he went down-hill fast and without thought. I'm just glad he finally got himself straightened out enough to become a teacher and writer.

With that said, you must realize that Lemon is a poet, so some of his memoir is approached as poetry. At first this was off-putting to me because I wasn't quite getting what he was doing; but once I found out about his poetry background, it made perfect sense. In the beginning I wasn't sure if he was describing being high on drugs or if something was wrong with him, and I kept thinking, I can't read this book if this is all he's doing. But once you do realize something is wrong, you can understand he is describing it just like it was happening at that moment.

Excellent memoir of struggling and surviving.

Alex Lemon's memoir, Happy, is filled with blood, sweat, and courage. It is a raw and brutally honest look at overcoming what fate throws at you. Happy is a nickname and a personality Lemon shows the world as his body deteriorates in illness. The moments in this novel are so personal; it will make you squirm as if stumbling upon as unlocked diary.

In 1997, life holds everything for Lemon. He is attending Macalester College, mingling with upper-classmen, and is a catcher for the baseball team. Lemon describes this portion of his life with a reminiscent and shameless flair. Drinking, drugs, and disposable girls enter and leave through the revolving door of Happy's life, and barely a book gets opened. Without warning his world starts spinning out of balance. Parts of his body go numb, his vision starts to distort, and he keeps falling. Baseball is impossible, because he can't follow the ball, much less stand. His first clinic visit brings the diagnosis of an inner ear problem, but when the pills don't work Happy sees another doctor and then another.

"I smile up at him, but I'm terrified. My muscles are cramping. The tray slides into the machine and the radiologist's voice grows distant. I close my eyes. I have never been sick. I don't know what it is. The plastic ceiling is inches above my face."
-pg 53

Finally, it's determined that his brain is bleeding and he suffered a stroke. The doctors claim this rare incident is unlikely to happen again, so Happy attacks life with new vigor: getting back into baseball, drinking with wild abandon, and sleeping with as many girls as he can.

"I'm swallowing myself alive. Happy's Hallowed Eve brumbles into Weeks of Pleasing Myself. I celebrate the ticking seconds of every goddamn day. I'm a festival, a parade, and the drinks are vicious. There is cake and blood-slick flesh."
-pg 123

It doesn't last long. After a second brain hemorrhage, Happy makes the difficult decision to try surgery. The one doctor who will attempt this risky procedure is down in Florida. Ironically, the surgery is scheduled right during Hurricane Floyd, but Happy doesn't turn back, instead he stays to get his needed surgery. This is perhaps, one of the most poignant sections of the book. Surrounded by family and death on both sides, Happy rises like a battered Phoenix from the storm.

There are some great elements at play in this memoir. Lemon's description of his illness is masterful and his knack for poetry shines. One section in particular that shows literary skill is the paragraph, or more aptly the long run-on sentence, right before Lemon is to have brain surgery: this melding of random thoughts and fears emphasizes his profound panic in that precise moment. Lemon never makes himself a victim, instead he appears as a bemused soldier pushing through unyielding odds with the brashness and fortitude only youth can inspire. Happy is one of the best memoirs on the shelf.

During his college freshman year Alex Lemon suffered his first stroke. An unexpected event in one so young, who was hugely popular, athletic, doing well in his classes. It's not often that the experience of a stroke has been shared with so much eloquence. But the fact was that Alex Lemon's disability is lodged in what one doctor describes as "an eloquent part of the brain." Lemon is a talented published poet, his third collection is coming out next month. But the irony of his nickname "Happy" is really the only thing ironic about this memoir which is harrowing, beautiful, and written in what has been described as technicolor prose. His outgoing personality, forged by his mother with love and unconventionality, results in a circle of friends enviable in their loyalty and affection. There are unfiltered snapshots of his pre-college life, which also rounds out the affectionate portrait of his mother.