Picked up from the exchange shelf of Kamppi shopping mall in Helsinki. "A great insight into Trump and Brexit" says the cover. I would sum those two with "protest" and "a joke gone bad".

Began reading while dog-sitting in Sipoo as I've promised this book to a Berlin bookcrosser, some kind of princess. Edit: rastaprincess.
It's starting to dawn on me where the spirit of attacking the Capitol Hill is coming from. They shoot, set each other on fire and take their pound of flesh with a chain-saw just to make a point. It's difficult to grasp how certain towns, cities or states even can be so poor that living on the dole, using drugs or shooting at people is the norm.

So many of the writer’s neighbours were leading a similar life, so he assumed that shouting, cursing and throwing things at each other was the way adult people communicated. When he visited relatives elsewhere he thought they were odd or pretending, when they didn’t raise their voices or act the ”normal” way. I remember how my ex-boss, a vet from a working family, described her childhood block of flats where every dad was drunk come Saturday. The odd thing was that she (at the age of 70+) thought that it was the same everywhere, except the rich drank in clubs or hotels. I think she didn’t believe me when I said I can’t remember seeing my parents visibly drunk ever.

J.D. was wondering howcome some drug addicts living on the dole could have cell phones when he, who worked as a cashier, could not afford one. The key word here might have been ”drugs”, not ”dole”, because one drug squad police once said that there was a time drug-dealers were easy to spot - they were the ones who could afford cell phones which first were really expensive.

J.D. went to Marine foot camp and is now being sent to fight in Iraq - why do I get the image of Forest Gump and Bubba in mi head?

Finished. This was a well-written book, both personal and analytic. Parts of it reminded me a bit of Running with scissors, although this boy came out of his childhood more balanced. J.D. managed to tell his story and mirrow it to the community around him, explaining the hillbilly code of ethics to us outsiders. He might get torched for it if he shows his face in Jackson, but kept my attention the whole time, the sign of a good writer.

In a hurry forgot to make the release note in Berlin. Enjoy the book!

thank you kirjakko for bringing this book with you to Berlin!
Such a pity we didn't have a chance to meet in person.
I'm very much looking forward to read this book (soonish).

A very interesting book, albeit a tough read (story). Heartbreaking at times.
I liked the mix of memior and social essay.
Glad the author made it through, but my mind goes to the (too) many who did not.

free on exchange bookshelves at work ~~~ in der (ehemals) geheimen Bibliothek bei der Arbeit befreit

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