“And the Heart Says Whatever” - Emily Gould

The cover of this book alone would have drawn me to it, had I passed by it in my local Barnes and Noble.  It’s beautiful in its simplicity.  However, this was on my List of Books to Read in my Blackberry, so I ordered it without looking into what it was about, trusting my list-making abilities and buying blindly.  This turned out to be in my favor.

Emily Gould, who has written for The New York Times, The New York Observer, and Jezebel.com has a voice that I can’t closely relate to anyone else’s that I have read before.  There were times when the sharpness of her words made me think of old books that I have read by authors who are both witty and sad; and this book is sort of dark in its humor and even darker in its reality.  

Jonathan Franzen, an American novelist and essayist, writes about Gould’s book:

This is not a ‘nice’ book, but it comes by its anger and melancholy honestly, and it makes sense of much that is puzzling about our cultural moment.

I think that this is so true.  At times, Emily is painfully honest — about heartbreak, addiction, and the overall sadness of coming into true adulthood in a city that doesn’t care about your failures or achievements.  The years of smoking pot, the years of a failing relationship with a man she loved deeply, and the years of moving forward and upward (and sometimes backward) in her career — it’s all here, within these pages.

I wouldn’t call this memoir a page-turner.  It is, essentially, a group of eleven essays that tell a story of sorts, with pieces here or there that make sense over time.  However, even though I didn’t feel the push of the pages beckoning me forward, the intense honesty of this book was enough to keep me interested, and the reader really does cheer on Emily Gould as she tells about years of self-discovery — you want so badly for her to find love, find a place for herself in the world, and find peace.  I think that any author who can make you feel such intense love for their main character (in Emily’s case, it is herself) deserves all of the success in the world, as books that make you feel something are hard to come by, it seems.

I recommend this book to anyone in the midst of self-discovery.  It’s not exceptionally encouraging, but it is relatable in its mishaps — especially in the love department.  I wouldn’t say that this is much of a summer or beach read; it’s more of a taking-a-sick-day read, as I, in particular, enjoyed reading this book on the couch with a blanket covering my legs.  

I give this memoir 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Tagged as: book review. emily gould. and the heart says whatever. 3.5 stars.