Scream audiobook

Giving this 5* because I really enjoyed it—though it isn't perfect, deliberately so.Janowitz danced in Studio 54, hung out with Andy Warhol, rose to fame as a writer in the 80s and had a fling with Lawrence Durrell. But she spends more time ranting about how random the signs are in her local supermarket, talking about her dad's apparent weed addiction, how her brother's trying to sue her, the times she got fired and what it was like looking after her dementia-stricken mother. It seems that at any age we'll still obsess over trivial stuff in the present, berate ourselves for not having picked up on the meaning of anything, think about the past in a strangely non-linear order (as Knausgard does in Min Kamp and as Ferrante does in her Neapolitan novels I believe), struggle to relate to family and friends and yearn for other lives and how things could have been.Mary Karr says that memoirs sell best not because of the juiciness of the details but the authenticity of the voice, and that's what we have here. It's not at all structured in the way of other typical memoirs, and Janowitz doesn't talk about her life in the same way as other random people whose lives I've been interested in. Examples that come to mind are John Waters and Henry Rollins, who both have done one-man spoken word things where they start sentences with "We would go down the..." and "We would be there with...", confidently asserting that what they did in the past was part of something. You wouldn't catch Janowitz doing this. It seems that whether or not you were "there when it happened" is not a fact but also function of who you are. In fact, for someone who externally seems like she owned New York at some point, she could not hack it and shouldn't really have tried, and I'm glad she's out now. There's a hilarious moment where a TV executive asks her to come up with a TV series based on an idea they had, and when she receives the info and gets a call she says something like 'Nothing's occurring to me honestly, but thanks for thinking of me', which is kryptonite to the executive who claims he'll make sure her reputation in TV is ruined, and she still pines that opportunity today. The worlds she wanted entry to were not ones where you got to say 'No' or be honest, but she just couldn't help being herself, which again is revealed in the structure of this memoir: 'I know what you want—or maybe I don't—but after all these years, this is what I've got.'And aren't those the kind of lessons you come to a memoir for? To those who say it was "lacking", wouldn't you trade, as Janowitz has, juicy celebrity gossip for reassurance?

This was my first experience with Tama Janowitz and it will not be my last. This, of course, was a memoir, so her fiction could potentially be a little different, but I am excited to find out. This book was funny, and at times a little sad. But, overall it was engrossing and interesting. Also, the author did an excellent job narrating the audiobook.

This is probably the best book I've read all year. Tama Janowitz is funny, honest and has lead the most interesting life. I found her totally relatable and I'm glad I read this before Christmas because I can think of at least one person I'm gifting with this book. I want to support Tama to spite her a-hole brother.

Slaves of New York is one of my favorite books, so when I saw Tama Janowitz's memoir on sale, I grabbed it. I was not disappointed. This memoir is unconventional, like its author. It's written as if she's having an animated conversation with you, or like a letter to a friend.

This has made me love Tama 100x more. She’s just such a wonderful, underrated, beautiful soul. Her books are so unique and funny, and her voice so special. I loved reading this memoir to get to know more about her as a person. Reading about the bits in Paris and New York were my favourite, and the parts about her mother in the later years were heartbreaking. Above all, it has made me want to write, which I think is always a good thing. I’ll always be here to support Tama, absolutely always. Can’t wait to read the remaining few books of hers that I have.

I was one of those college kids who rushed to the bookstore and bought a hardcover copy of SLAVES OF NEW YORK and loved it. I confess that I have never read her novels, maybe because they weren't about artists in New York, but now that I am middle aged, I found much to relate to in her memoir. It's easy to love and admire someone who has made a success of their life, but I can sympathize with those who mess up. In spite of being one-time It girl, Janowitz is now broke and in danger of going to jail. She writes frankly, and often hilariously of her midlife trials and tribulations. I felt quite fond of the author by the time I finished the book, and motivated to read her novels. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I thought that her intonation was really odd at times. I think Janowitz is a better writer than audiobook narrator, though hearing these words in her voice probably made her more relatable.

Goodreads Giveaway - This is memoir as collage. Janowitz bounces around in short, tight chapters recounting her childhood, adolescence, young adult, adult life. The anecdotes range from stories of her encounters with artists and celebrities to tales of woe about her family. The most vivid of these tales are the ones revolving around her family - who are a chaotic and extraordinary cast of characters. The writing is very conversational and lends well to the narratives. My only complaint was that the book was so short, I wanted more.

Janowitz is always funny and/or compelling, even when she's gossiping, bragging, or settling scores. You just can't help but be on her side! She also pays close attention to money and class, subjects glossed over by too many residents of the NYC privilege bubble.

Absolutely brilliant : by the end I just wanted to give her a big hug. Hilariously funny & made me laugh out loud

A memoir of how the author survived a sadistic father, a greedy, vindictive brother, and a mother who descended into dementia. She bounced back and forth between relative affluence and poverty.

You will never complain about your family again. If they're worse than this, I'm sorry. Laugh out loud funny.

Stream of consciousness that jumps around from times and places that Tama experienced, starting from childhood and going to the present (2016, when it was published.) There are liberal stories with vivid examples about her relationships with both of her parents. There is such shocking difference between their parenting styles, habits, and interactions with their daughter, with an impression that mom is a brilliant, supportive, long-suffering saint and father is an emotionally abusive, sex-addicted schizoid.There is some about Tama and her husband, Tim, and their daughter, Willow, but not much. There are surprisingly touching and tender recountings in connection with her romantic connection, fondly named, "the contractor."There are a plethora of Tama's struggles with "professionals" that are anything but -- or maybe the definition of professional in the dictionary is wrong? -- including nursing home caretakers, accountants, architects, attorneys, etc. I'm glad she decided to call them out for the unethical individuals that they are. There are also stories about terrible neighbors, including one's determination to kill one of her shrubs.I love the running gag about the supermarket aisle signs -- with photos!There is a lot of name- and place- dropping, but Tama is more matter-of-fact about them. They are described as one would list the ingredients in a recipe. Still nice to get an insider's look on where the elites of NYC live.Inside all of the densely packed writing, you'll find the golden nugget of a damaged, resilient, humorous, independent human being with heart who is truly a philosopher queen. Tama has heroineically (I refuse to use the heroically!) portrayed herself as vulnerable, ignorant, gullible, and struggling in the book. Tama lets us figure out how we want to regard her with all of the facts with help from between the lines. What more can an autobiographist do for her readers?Aside from all of that, this book, besides being harrowing, is darned funny. It's a roller coaster ride with no dead space. It is my first book by Tama (thanks Stacey!) and my appetite is whetted for more.