I'm Sorry You Feel That Way

December 1, 2008
In this bleak, sad and occasionally funny memoir, Joseph (Happy or Otherwise
) explores life through the lens of the male relationships, both human and canine, woven into her life. It is not an easy task. She admits she's never really been part of a female circle of friends (“I'm a girly girl who enjoys a good fart joke”) and ponders why this is so. Maybe it's because she grew up with brothers; maybe it's because her father was such a mysterious and godlike presence in her life that she spent most of her time seeking out male approval. Joseph adeptly scrutinizes the often opposing female and male sensibilities. She has a great eye for telling details that complete a character or scene. She routinely ends with men who don't suit her, or places she dislikes. “They didn't know I didn't belong at any gathering where people took tidy sips of wine, then remarked upon its bouquet or nibbled on stuffed mushrooms or spread a thin layer of hummus across pita bread.” Whether describing a friendship with her alcoholic boss; her younger brother, a cop nicknamed Bye-Bye; or her father, who never reads books for pleasure but always reads the newspaper, Joseph strives to tell the straight story while not ignoring the potholes along the way.

Starred review from March 1, 2009
Despite the mouthful of a title, there isn't an excess word in this smart and tightly constructed debut. Fans of David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell will appreciate Joseph's portraits of the men in her life. From her young son's trench foot to her blue-collar father's attempt at a sex talk, these impeccably detailed stories are as heartfelt as they are trenchantly funny.E.B.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2009
A rite of passage for many teens is the sex talk. For debut memoirist Joseph, it was the slut talk administered by her hard-edged father. See, what happens is sometimes a girl will go with this one, and then shell go with that one, and then she thinks, what the hell, that one there doesnt look so bad, why not go with that one, too, hed opine as he pulled on an unfiltered Lucky. In the years that followed, Josephs life was peppered with prickly relationships with the opposite sex, from boyfriends so icky they became woeful stories recounted over strawberry margaritas to an ex-husband who broke her heart (but still fixes her brakes). She buys her son a doll to put him in touch with his feminine side but later decides shed rather groom him to be the next Bruce Springsteen. Josephs mordant sense of humor helps her make hay from harrowing life experiences. But there are poignant moments here, too, where emotional pain is played for more than just laughs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)