Sunday, November 22, 2015

It'll Feel Good When It Quits Hurting

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BOOK INFORMATION
  • Paperback: 268 pages
  • Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (September 30, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1517610753
  • ISBN-13: 978-1517610753

Synopsis
Many years ago my friends and I would sit around and play what we called "Jerry Springer: the Home Game". The object of the game was to see how many upcoming shows we qualified for, with the story to support our claim, and whoever had the most at the end of the program won. I was the reigning champion. This book started off as just a lighthearted collection of antidotes, stories shared with friends over the years to both the horror and delight of my audience. But as I began to write I realized that the humor of my life comes not from the light moments, but the dark, and without those moments being included much of the humor would be lost without that context. This book is a bit darker than I initially intended, but I hope that while reading this I can make you smile, even on occasion laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of the situations I have found myself in over the years, and that you, like me, can find the humor in all the dark places. I do not believe I have any wisdom to share in this telling, nor is it even an inspirational tale of achievement by overcoming adversity, it is simply my life that I have survived. For better or worse, this is the mostly true, fairly accurate, and almost completely factual account of my life. Some liberties have been taken to protect the somewhat innocent and a few small embellishments were made for the sake of a good story.

Review
The author refers to this book as a roller coaster of emotion, and she couldn't be more accurate. This book made me laugh, cry, and feel disappointed, sad, angry, happy....a whole range of emotions! I think that everyone who reads it will find portions which directly relate to their own adolescence.

With everything the author has been through, it's an amazing testament to her perseverance that she was able to come through on the other side and actually see the humor in so many of her circumstances. 

There are some grammatical errors in the manuscript, as well as some spelling errors, but that is typical of self-published projects, and in no way deters from the stories being told.

**I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.**

Rating
Five stars

About the author
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Lisa Orban was born in Galesburg, IL in 1969. She was moved by her parents (without even asking!) to Quincy as a small child. Bouncing from parent to parent, and house to house until at 16 she was given a broader tour of the state courtesy of foster care. 

At 18, she voluntarily left for Phoenix with a high school friend where she lived for three years. After returning to Quincy, she went to college and earned an Associates of Arts in Psychology, with a minor in Art. Over the years she has held many jobs, but never quite found the right one. She has written poetry and short stories on a variety of subjects from raising children to finance for online publication. Finally in 2013, after much urging from her friends for years, she sat down one day and started writing about her life.

She is the mother of five children, all grown and gone, except her youngest. Which she is sure is trying to drive her mad (as all teenagers do) and has plans to write another book in the future about their childhood, much to their anticipated dismay. 

She currently lives in her hometown, in the house she loves, and at the center of the chaos she enjoys so much. Often surrounded by her children, her loves, friends and the strays (both two legged and four) she takes in. She continues to seek out new adventures, misadventures and new mistakes to fill the pages of her next book, laughing as she goes.

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