Book: How to Fix a Broken Record.Author: Amena Brown
Info: Copyright 2017:
Rating (on a scale of 1-4 stars): ✮✮
Where
Acquired: Borrowed from a friend.
Category: Impulse reads. My sister-in-blog, Annie’s review on her blog
sounded interesting, so I borrowed the book and dove in.
What it's about:
What it's about:
Amena Brown, a poet and spoken word artist, gives
the reader part coming-of-age chronicle, part pop culture lesson, as she
explores the “broken records” that have shaped her life. Events from her early years to her current
role as a new wife and businesswoman are fused with a soundtrack of her
favorite albums.
Favorite Quote(s):
I ask myself all sorts of things: Does true womanhood really hinge on a woman’s ability to become a mother? Why do I hold myself to this ticking biological clock and some ridiculous social media standard that says I should have children by now? Is my identity wrapped in checking off some arbitrary list of achievements? Does my life not matter if I am not married with kids, with a certain income bracket, with a house in a certain neighborhood, with a list of ways to describe my cool life to people I meet at parties? – p. 156
What I liked:
Brown’s conversational, yet sophisticated writing style was engaging, which made the read quite enjoyable.
I found Brown’s take on purity rings and True Love Waits rather refreshing. In my experience, when a writer/speaker starts off with “Yeah, I did the purity ring/True Love Waits thing, but after a while I said screw it because insert lame excuse for fornication here.” Brown actually waited for her wedding night. She wrote of the experience as something beautiful and not as deprivation.
What I didn’t like:
The author hinted that any black woman who
didn’t wear her hair naturally wasn’t embracing her true self. Sorry, honey, but I don’t consider my coarse,
matted tresses a gift from God; I consider them part of the Curse of the
Law. Pass me the relaxer, please. I need to touch up my nappy roots.Favorite Quote(s):
I ask myself all sorts of things: Does true womanhood really hinge on a woman’s ability to become a mother? Why do I hold myself to this ticking biological clock and some ridiculous social media standard that says I should have children by now? Is my identity wrapped in checking off some arbitrary list of achievements? Does my life not matter if I am not married with kids, with a certain income bracket, with a house in a certain neighborhood, with a list of ways to describe my cool life to people I meet at parties? – p. 156
What I liked:
Brown’s conversational, yet sophisticated writing style was engaging, which made the read quite enjoyable.
I found Brown’s take on purity rings and True Love Waits rather refreshing. In my experience, when a writer/speaker starts off with “Yeah, I did the purity ring/True Love Waits thing, but after a while I said screw it because insert lame excuse for fornication here.” Brown actually waited for her wedding night. She wrote of the experience as something beautiful and not as deprivation.
What I didn’t like:
Her attempts at finding love using Dr. Henry
Cloud’s book How to Get a Date Worth Keeping were disturbing. Initially, I thought she was making it
up. I said to myself: This
can’t be real. Dr. Cloud would never write something as horrid as that. When I saw on goodreads.com and amazon.com
that the book does exist, I thought I was going to hurl. The fact that she
followed a book that essentially puts women in the position of huntress and
requires that she seeks a date with any and every man within ten feet sent my
stomach churning. Ironically, she didn’t
meet her husband through any technique in the book; she actually hooked up with
him because she left one of those required hunting sessions. Sheesh, Dr. Cloud should have just called his
book The Christian Side of Hoochie.
And, no, I will NOT be reading it.
Personally, this book wasn’t for me. This book would be more appropriate for newlyweds
or those contemplating marriage.
However, for someone single, older, and not pining for “Boaz” while
lamenting over bad past relationships, a majority of the chapters were an
unappealing dissertation on marriage and dating relationships.
I find it funny that when Annie and I discussed How
to Fix a Broken Record, she thought I would “get” the book more because I
grew up more immersed in pop culture. However,
I didn’t understand the record metaphor any more than she did. First, I’m a child of the 70’s and 80’s
where, for a while, vinyl records were our main option. Brown is a child of the 90’s and 2000’s,
where vinyl records were a novelty, not a necessity. Also, I knew nothing of any of her musical
references…well, except for The Wiz.
That vinyl album I played about a hundred times while visiting my Aunt
Anne’s in Detroit
Takeaway:
One thing I’m learning through my own writings and reading the works of others is that good writing is very cathartic. For the author, honest, raw writing helps to cleanse the soul from wounds. For the reader, pouring over the writings of others is cathartic only if the author can craft his story in a way that connects with the reader. I think Brown’s book was very cathartic for her, but I didn’t feel connected with her at all.
Takeaway:
One thing I’m learning through my own writings and reading the works of others is that good writing is very cathartic. For the author, honest, raw writing helps to cleanse the soul from wounds. For the reader, pouring over the writings of others is cathartic only if the author can craft his story in a way that connects with the reader. I think Brown’s book was very cathartic for her, but I didn’t feel connected with her at all.
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