Shooting Out the Lights

I had completely forgotten or didn't realize as I read it that "Shooting Out the Lights" is a memoir. I waded through it, thinking it was fiction, and that misconception colored most of my impressions of the story. Most, but not all. As a piece of fiction, I found it unbelievable and unrealistic. While I could understand the initial attraction between a young woman and a much older man, as the story went on, the husband was progressively depicted in unflattering ways: constant smoking, ill health, including phlegmy hacking, his brown, tobacco-stained fingers, his false teeth, and the weird, enigmatic quotes that peppered his speech.

As I finished the book and read the author's acknowledgments, I realized this was a true depiction of her life with her husband. That fact made me rethink things, because obviously everything that I thought was unbelievable and unrealistic had actually happened! The one thing that I couldn't get past, however, and which caused me to rate at only two stars, was the writing itself. So many lines and paragraphs seemed disjointed and didn't flow smoothly. In addition, I found some words to be overused or used inappropriately throughout when describing reactions to events. There were an abundance of "chuckles," "giggling," "smiles" which seemed misplaced. I'm not saying these things didn't happen, but the words seemed overused. Overall, I just think the writing could have been polished a bit more.

I initially rated the book with only one star, but when I realized it was a true story, I bumped it to two stars, meaning the cringe-worthy writing style took a back seat to the story as a whole.

Thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.