7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read, January 7, 2009
Losing Everything is, first and foremost, an incredible story. If it were a work of fiction, it would be a great read. The fact that it is a non-fiction account of David Martin's life makes it all the more amazing. Other reviewers have said that they could not put the book down, and that is the way it was with me. I started reading and reading . . . and stopped only once I was finished. I looked at the recent New York Times review, and Dwight Garner got it right when he said that Martin "keeps you wincing and turning the pages . . . ."
The story is about a young kid from southern Illinois with an extremely screwed up childhood (imagine some of the terrible things a child could go through -- beatings, etc. -- and kick it up a notch). Often, a memoir that starts this way will then go into a series of self-hurrahs, e.g., "despite the way things started, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and became a success." Losing Everything doesn't go that route. Martin is brutal in his self-assesment of his life, and he has the courage to tell it like it is. There are some rough spots along the way, and my guess is that, other than those among us who believe they have reached perfection, people will feel like Martin is talking to them when he explains the things he has endured . . . I know I did.
In the end, Martin doesn't try to say that he has everything figured out. Instead, he tells us some of what he has learned along the way. I found the "keeping a list of dead people" particularly insightful, as we can all keep departed loved ones (and even not-so-loved ones) alive in this world through our own remembering. I also thought Martin's points about forgiveness were very touching and true. People often view forgiveness as a sign of weakness (vengeance seems much tougher, just look at the story lines in Hollywood's movies), but truly forgiving someone is always the more difficult thing to do. And, without exception, if you can muster up the fortitude to forgive, you will be better off.
These pointers (or life lessons or whatever you want to call them) are wonderful to read, and they are an uplifting way to end the book. But, I'll return to the power of Losing Everything -- the story. An abused kid, who becomes a drinker, then an author, then twice a husband, thumbing his nose at karma with his actions in his first marriage, only to see it come back to kick him in the rear in his second, losing everything (his love, his money, and, at his lowest point, his sanity), and then working to get much of it back . . . or at least to try to understand what happened and pass along his wisdom.
Finally, when deciding if I loved a book, I usually think of a number of things: (1) Did the book make me keep reading and reading, even if it is late at night or there is somewhere I need to go?; (2) When reading the book, are there sentences or short passages that I re-read just to enjoy the excellence of the writing?; (3) When I'm done with the book, does it stay with me (do I find myself thinking of it later on); and (4) Do I want to re-read the entire book again on more than one occasion (and, in fact, do I do this)?
For Losing Everything, my answer to each of these questions is a resounding "yes." Martin's novels always have satsified these criteria for me, but Losing Everything simply blew me away. I've already re-read it once, and I'm sure I'll turn back to it again. I highly recommend it for everyone.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I couldn't put it down, January 4, 2009
I read this book in less than 24 hours, which is unusual for me. I found Martin's story to be gripping and VERY uplifting. I've never read any of his fiction, but I soon will. I LOVE his writing style. Some parts were tender, laugh out loud funny, or just thought provoking. The memory of Martin's experiences will stay with me for a while.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to Put Down, January 5, 2009
An extremely candid and painful account of a life gone wrong. So well written it was hard to put down, and I easily finished it in one sitting. Very diferent from the typical Hollywood confessional or "Mommy Dearest" genre. This alternately sordid and uplifting tale ends with a bunch of homilies, bromides and truisms about how to live a "better life", and I usually ignore this kind of pap. But. in truth, they were kind of interesting and didn't seem feigned. Highly recomended.
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