Customer Reviews

MY SISTER FROM THE BLACK LAGOON : A Novel of My Life

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

"My Sister from the Black Lagoon" absorbs and entertains from its engaging first line ("I was born into a mentally ill family. My sister was the officially crazy one, but really we were all nuts") to its almost dreamy, nostalgic end.

Laurie Fox's autobiographical novel tells the double coming-of-age story of Lorna Person (the narrator) and her deeply-disturbed, brilliant, and gender-bended sister Lonnie, ill from birth with an undiagnosed mental disorder that makes her run wild with animals, rage at "normal" people. and generally live in her own, untamed, internal universe.

Lorna and Lonnie grow up in the TV soaked and inspired environment of '50's Burbank. While the family struggles to cope with Lonnie's illness (with weekly trips to the psychiatric clinic and prescription sedatives for the parents), lonely Lorna plays at normality, escaping into the fantasy worlds of movies, theater, and music. As the '50's turn into the '60's, the Person family dissolves. Their parents divorce, Lorna discovers love and friendship, Lonnie becomes more and more removed from society. When, as a late adolescent in college, Lorna finally cracks, her salvation again comes from the theater. This time, though, not through playing another person's character, but by creating her own.

While "My Sister" is largely Lorna's story of creeping out from under her sister's overbearing shadow, it is always Lonnie's story too. Fox's voice is wry yet always compassionate and utterly respectful as each sister grows into being her own Person.

This book is an excellent choice for those interested in a tale of a family fighting terrible odds, for those fascinated by the symbiotic, twisted, loving relationship any sisterhood entails, for those intrigued by the ravages mental illness imparts on an otherwise "normal" neurotic household, for those who believe in art as salvation, or simply for those who enjoy a very good read.

Even though the author stated early in her book that she hoped this was *her* story, the story lacked depth about the mentally ill sister and the author's relationship with her. Lorna/Laurie's relationship with her cat seemed, at times, to be more important to her than her dear, frustrated (and frustrating) sister.

Never did we learn what Lonnie's illness is, what was being done for her, how she was educated, what her prognois was, how she acted that was violent (other than the unusual toys and the interesting pets)- Lonnie clearly lacked depth. Why mention the sister in the title if the novel was to be entirely about Lorna?

Other reviewers have suggested that Lorna/Laurie is self-centered, but that is to be expected. This is a memoir of an actor/writer, after all. The point of a memoir is to focus on one's life- and a actor is supposed to present herself.

Lorna/Laurie had a typical, freak, suburban upbringing in the 60's. The major difference is that she had a lot of stress at home, without enough support for herself, for her mother, and for her father. Even Lonnie appeared to not be well-supported by her therapists. Hopefully, people who work with the mentally ill and their families have learned over the decades to support them as they have learned with other forms of more visible illness.

A better memoir to explore the flaky family and the ensuing sister entanglement is "The Liar's Club". Truly a wonderful read.

This book started out funny (with Lonnie's fear of toast) and quickly went down from there. Instead of being a book about her crazy sister, we ended up being fed a bit of her own personal neurosis and details of her first sexual encounter. To be honest, that's not why I bought the book, but I grudgingly read on hoping that the book would get better. It didn't.

I found _My Sister..._ a thoughful and careful book written with an honesty that reminds me of Alice Munro. The novel was not perfect, as it lagged towards the end, but I guess that's the pitfall of writing of one's life. I first heard of this book while Fox was being interviewed on a local radio show in the Bay Area, and she seemed so sincere and her story so compelling that I went out and bought the book. Can't wait until the sequel.

Laurie Fox is truly a poet. Her autobiographical tale ellicits the difficult truths that survivors from a home with a mentally ill member hold private and constant. Lorna's troubled childhood with her mentally ill sister is fraught with the anxieties and laughter that all girls can relate to, but her struggle to succeed as an independent woman and learn to live with the guilt of surviving in a dysfunctional family are what makes the telling of the novel so relentlessly gripping. Laurie Fox bares her soul, her sorrow, and her story in an accessible, emotional, and sympathetic style. This is her first novel, but I can't wait to read more.

Fox caught my attention with the first line of this novel, as she writes that "I was born into a mentally ill family. My sister was the officially crazy one, but really we were all nuts." This statement is simple on the surface, and yet it speaks to the overall impact on a family system when one person has an illness, be it mental or physical. In the first part of the book, she keeps a clear, steady focus on the Person family, and it works beautifully. I started to get a sense of knowing not only Lorna, but the whole family.

Even in the second and third parts of the book, the writing is still top quality. Fox has a clear narrative voice, and some of the prose is as poignant and heartbreaking as any I've read. Lorna is a delightful blend of innocent and cynic. She's smart, she's insecure, she's funny, she's brave, she's cowardly - she's human, and on some level, all of us, even if we've left our adolescence and can't remember that far back, can still feel an echo of recognition in reading her story. Despite that, the pacing drops off so much in the middle part of the book that the reader is pulled out of the story. It seemed like Fox was being careful to not portray anyone (specifically Lonnie and her parents) in a negative light. Rather than risk casting such a shadow over the rest of Lorna's family, Fox simply pulls them out of the book for a key period in Lorna's life. The book devolved from a compelling tale about the nature of family, love, sisterhood, and mental illness into a standard insecure teen girl comes of age tale.

Despite what seems to be a low mark, and some serious criticisms, this is still a worthwhile book to read, simply to experience the depth of Fox's adroit use of the English language. Just don't read it expecting to learn a great deal about mental illness. I'm glad I bought it used.

...and i got the book for free. I thought the book sounded interesting, like it would be more about the relationship between the 2 sisters, or maybe an interesting character study into the mind. Instead what i got was a totally dysfunctional family with an overbearing father and a doormat mother who are too wrapped up in themselves to really deal with a special needs kid (the only person in this story that really gets pushed aside and you feel truely bad for). Lorna's tale is more about herself and learning her place in this world, which i'm not sure she ever does. The writing is self centered and paints the writer as completely neurotic and probably in need of professional help as much as her sister (who is absent from about half of the book). An OK read but pretty disappointing overall considering it could have been a whole lot more.

Laurie Fox has a gut-wrenching story that evolves at just the right pace, drawing you into her family and showing, little by little, that it is not only her sister that needs help. I loved this book and read it all in one sitting. The way Fox shows her entire life for all to read is inspiring!

I picked up the book while browsing, liked the title, read a few words and bought it. The author is doing a reading at the store where I bought the book so I'm planning to go hear her talk. The writing is honest, the book well-written, humorous with a touch of sadness with which we can all relate. Although there are billions of books to read out there, I'm looking forward to future writings by Laurie Fox.

On the cover, Wally Lamb compares this book to Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, and is that the truth! Fox is the first writer in recent memory to capture Salinger's sense of the heart, the humour, the ruefulness to be found in one young person's heart. Bravo, Fox, you are a master in the making.