This is a tough post for me to write. First of all, I really wanted to LOVE this book. What a great title! The promise of whimsy for grown ups made me eager to find out what another's definition might hold. Would I find it fanciful, or possibly just plain fun? I really hoped for something inspiring. The cover art, by illustrator Brook Henderson was inviting and even the idea to "sing loudly in my car" evoked a playful expectation.
Unfortunately, "Sing loudly in your car! A book of whimsy for grown-ups." by Lynn Rosenbaum proved only disappointing.
I laughed when reading a couple of her "Dontcha hate"s ,
"Dontcha hate when you walk into the bathroom in your clean socks, and step in a wet spot?"
but found others entirely unfunny
"Dontcha hate when the tag inside your shirt is all scratchy, so you cut it off and then you have a big hole in your shirt."
and couldn't figure out why any of them were included in a book of essays and poems. All in all I found the entire thing more bizarre then whimsical. If whimsy is considered mixing a bunch of disjointed typsets up with some poorly written material then perhaps she was successful.
"This playful collection of poems, essays and illustrations" as they were called on the jacket are a very aimless group of ramblings that have nothing to do with each other. A couple of the poems were amusing. She thanks Shel Silverstein, for the inspiration but instead of following his lead and collecting her poems in one volume she paired them with therapeutic ramblings which caused me to think "Oh poor thing!" rather then summoning the delight that was promised.
Lynn Rosenbaum's photo was on the back of the book, she looks immediately likable which made me sad her book isn't.
Next Post: Rainy day whimsy!
My 13 bliss virtues: joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, surprise
