While autobiographies often highlight people’s great adventures and successes, this anonymous author’s dark book details the troubles he has faced in rejections by girls, constant bullying and a wobbly and ineffective career track, all leading to numerous suicide attempts. Originally written as self-therapy to help him understand and accept what happened, he now offers it to others afflicted with similar problems.
The author was born in 1963 to a teenage mother in England who quickly married, soon divorced and then moved on with her life, leaving him to be raised by her parents, whom he called Nana and Grandad. Later, his mother remarried a man who moved them all to Canada and later the U.S. The author suffers from an allergy to UV light, leaving him severely light sensitive and with permanently scarred features. This malady led to years of bullying by boys and cruel rejections by any girls in whom he showed an interest.
Mostly alone, he escaped by absorbing numerous television shows, videos and movies and listening to pop music. His life’s desire for a film industry career encountered several roadblocks, and he continually jumped between blue-collar jobs, barely eking out a living. Despairing at it all, the author tried multiple suicide attempts but was ultimately saved by the constant love of his Nana.
Despite his deep sadness, the author has written a book that holds together his timetable of events through apt references to song lyrics and character lines from numerous movies. However, the book isn’t likely to help himself or others similarly afflicted, as he suggests it will, because he ends it still pining over two lost loves and a life without a happy ending, never suggesting how reflecting on his experiences improved his life.
In short, while the author writes clearly with good detail and emotion, he finds no catharsis, leaving the book fodder only as a study case for mental health professionals.
Also available in hardcover.
