I was excited to read
Faith Salie’s Approval Junkie: Adventures
in Caring Too Much because that describes me to a tee. A collection of oftentimes hilarious essays,
the book is a quick read that will have you laughing at loud. However, I didn’t quite understand how some of the
essays were related to the topic as a whole.
But oh well – most of them were fun to read anyway.
Salie’s irreverent style
works well in each chapter, as she comes right out and says what most of us are
thinking. From her time winning “Miss Aphrodite” in her high school’s beauty
pageant to her joys as a new mother, she doesn’t mince words, and extra fun for
the average Joe who is not a celebrity, she names names of famous people she has encountered. Not all of her essays are meant to be funny, however; the
selection describing her agony of trying to get pregnant is especially poignant.
Some chapters are better
written and relate more to the topic at hand than others, but those who so
identify with the approval-seeking phenomenon will appreciate the book as a
whole.
