Perhaps I have not been around long enough to know that this
genre of book has always been written, or perhaps I am right and the memoirs
with scatterings of collected pieces of writing, whether that be recipes or
poetry or lists, have become increasingly popular recently. However I feel that
Everything I Know About Love, is a
really good example of one, the best I have read. It does not have the
political awareness and social comment that Lena Dunham and Caitlin Moran’s
counterparts do, and it is not as self-absorbed or career orientated as “celebrity”
books of this genre can be. Thereby making it an easy read, easily engorged in
a day or two.
Dolly Alderton, a journalist and previous Made in Chelsea
producer chronicles the disaster that is most people’s twenties. There is
plenty here to relate to, especially if you are of a certain age, such as heart-break,
soul crushing and cringe inducing first dates, MSN messenger, and general
drunken debauchery. It is true to the time-old tag line on a newly released
book, it is genuinely “laugh out loud,” such as the anecdote ‘I quit the day
they made me dress up as a pig and I was attacked by anti-fur demonstrators
outside Harrods.’ Within the book is absurd yet relatable anecdotes intertwined
with lessons it took Dolly years to learn about love and life. Dolly’s writing
is wildly relatable – I believe it took me twice as long to read this book as
it should have done as I was considering all the memories and anecdotes I was
reminded of.
The writing is elegant and perfectly suited to the purpose.
There was one chapter that read to me like a poem, it almost seemed symbolic of
something else entirely, concerning a bill for some lobster. The chapter was
only a page long, yet suitably hilarious but beautiful as the language was so
sparse, yet graceful. The memoirs were scattered alongside faux emails
satirising invitations to dinner parties, hen-dos and baby showers, however her
voice nonetheless remained unfailingly kind. In satire, it would have been so
easy to come across mean, the waxy cool girl poking fun, but in credit to
Alderton, there was no exclusivity or malice – we all get the joke and we can
all laugh along, even if we are guilty.
True to Dolly, as soon as I had finished this book I went around
wildly recommending it to everyone who would listen. Nonetheless, I do not
think it is for everyone. I wonder how anyone outside a certain age group would
consider the book in the way that the first half could appear to be just
drunken anecdotes – there is more to this book, and you are later rewarded with
wit and satire, and the realisations that fall upon anyone in their late 20s,
it is not just stories you might over hear at a bar and doubt their
authenticity.
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