31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Hilarious Yet Sobering Look at Where Being a Jehovah's Witness Led The Author, and Her Life as an Apostate, February 6, 2009
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Kyria Abrahams' I'm Perfect, Your Doomed, is a hilarious look at her youth as a Jehovah's Witness. With impeccable wit, she explores the precepts of the religion, as well as what her childhood was like immersed in it. At first, she doesn't question anything, and wants to obey every single rule because that's all she's known. It's clear from the first few chapters that part of being a Jehovah's Witness is about only associating with other Jehovah's Witnesses.
She takes us on a tour of the kinds of people she grew up with as part of her worship, seemingly full of eccentrics. Of one man, whom the congregation strongly suspected was gay, she writes, "We all know I'm sublimating my true sexuality, he seemed to be saying, so let's at least have a laugh about it. Also, I am dying inside." Sex, in fact, proves to be what ultimately gets her disfellowshipped; she has an affair, but when she tells her husband, he wants her to stay. She's young, alone, and has turned to cutting and alcoholism, neither a happy topic, but both she manages to use her humor to cut through what could be a very sad story. In this way, Abrahams manages to mock herself and her situation, while making for an engaging story. She winds up finding herself within the slam poetry scene, full of its own eccentrics, but of a different sort. The gap between her former life and her poetry one is powerful, and she makes it clear that she's struggling (not stumbling, the Jehovah's Witness term for causing someone to falter from their faith) with who she really is, outside the confines of what she's known her whole life.
Abrahams takes us inside her life as a Jehovah's Witness, from going door to door to recognizing, as she gets older, just how different she is from her peers. When she witness a birthday party, she's genuinely shocked that it is not the bacchanalia she's been prepared for. This and many other revelations cause her to slowly lose her grip on the religion. She doesn't portray it as a single catastrophic event, but a slow realization, via the Internet (remember AOL chat rooms?) and a stint in a mental hospital, that she is not happy and wants to try something new.
Some of her best lines have nothing to do with Jehovah's Witnesses; they're just plain funny. "I knew the snowsuit was embarrassing and almost always unnecessary, but it was like wearing a warm mug of cocoa over my entire body."
We don't quite get to find out how she came to be a comedian, but that's okay. Her glossary at the end offers more than enough humor (in fact, numerous laugh out loud moments). Feel free to read it first. Of "Field Service," the practice of preaching door-to-door, she writes, "Possessing a quiet reverence for creation and a personal sense of the divine, only without the quiet or personal part."
I would have liked to know what her current spiritual beliefs are and if she has any contact with her family (presumably not since she's been disfellowshipped), but she manages to end on a hopeful note, one that sees her starting life over. While I'm sure Jehovah's Witness who might read this (even though they're not supposed to) would find it potentially offensive, I don't think Abrahams' humor is meant to completely poke fun at her former religion. Rather, she knows it's an oddity amongst most Americans and yet was still involved with it for just over half her life.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent, excellent book.., September 6, 2009
this book made me deeply sad while at the same time deeply comforted..
unlike the author i wasn't raised from birth as a witness but i spent a little more than 20 years as one.. from about 14 to 35 years of age.. my expierence differs in some aspects but what is consistent in all former witness stories is that upon deciding you no longer want to remain a witness (regardless of your reason) you cease to exist to those you formerly called family.. poof! you're gone from their lives.. those who once loved you no longer speak to you.. you are cut off as if you had died.. except you havnt.. you are alive and well and maybe, just maybe, a better person.. but that doesn't matter..
as my aunt who raised me from 14 years of age said "it would be a compromise of my faith to continue to speak to you"..
if i returned to the fold all would be forgiven but barring that she could no longer have anything to do with me.. and she hasn't..
i cried with sadness and relief when i read the last paragraph of this book:
"these worldly, godless poets had loaned me money when i hadn't asked for it and had given me a place to stay.. when the people i had known for 23 years stopped talking to me, the people i had known for 23 days helped me move"
this was my expierence as well.. when my family completely turned away from me it was a "wordly family" who took me in.. they never asked where i came from or why i was alone in the world.. they just took me in and loved me as if i were one of them.. amazing..
the author does a beautiful job of laying bare her tormented soul while a witness and then the difficulties of trying to fit into a world she knows absolutely nothing about.. the real world.. its a mysterious place to those of us raised in a closeted society like J.W's.. i applaud those who despite not knowing how to live in the world take a leap of faith and jump anyway.. its terrifying and intimidating and overwhelming but the feeling of freedom, of being able to finally breathe is worth every scary moment.. as this author confirms you will find your way.. people will help you and there is good in this world..
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well, at least I was on my way to being perfect, at one time., April 10, 2009
Kyria Abrahams was born and raised as a Jehovah's Witness. For anyone familiar with the religion, her upbringing was fairly normal. She was not allowed to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday. She was also raised "knowing" that Christ's new way of things was on it's way and that the world was going to end at any time. Until her disfellowship she didn't think that she could survive without the hand of Jesus guiding her. This book takes an almost cynical look at her life. It also is complete with a glossary of common Jehovah's Witness terms the rest of us may not be familiar with.
I think the book was great. I lived part of my life with my grandmother and aunt who were Jehovah's Witnesses. Many of the things Kyria talked about in her book brought back some memories that I had all but forgotten. It was like I was taking a weird walk down memory lane. I think this was a great look at what life is like as a Witness, granted I had some "insider knowledge". Mrs. Abrahams uses wit and humor to explain some drastic events in her life. I loved the story, liked the writing, and I really connected with the characters. Overall it was a very good story!
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