When novelist and columnist Sarah-Kate Lynch turned 50 she declared ‘A Year of Me’ and set off in search of the key to happiness…
I’m liking
I don’t think I am a fan of self-indulgent-stream-of-consciousness writing that tries to be funny and impart a view on how to live, while saying throughout that they wouldn’t dream of telling you how to live your life.
And yet – once again I am pleasantly entertained by exactly that style of writing. I thoroughly enjoyed both Dawn French’s Dear Fatty and Jennifer Saunders’ Bonkers. While Sarah-Kate Lynch’s version is slightly less sprinkled with A-list celebrities, Screw You Dolores is relaxed, charming, chatty and fun and had a great time ‘hanging out with her’. She travels a lot during the year providing plenty of comical fodder and keeping the book moving through unusual situations and encounters with a fair few eccentric individuals. But there’s an engaging frankness in the way she speaks of family, friends and why she’s made some particular life decisions that give the book heart (and allow you to forgive some cheap gags).
Things that made me go hmmmm
Yes – the cheap gags. I’m not sure why books like this seem to have to contain a few likely fabricated jokes and story lines. Spoiler alert!!!! The back of the book refers to a dodgy handshake with Hugh Jackman (in a rush Sarah-Kate Lynch had run out of time to wash her hands after going to the toilet). Was this because the author felt or was encouraged to add some comical aspect in order for the meeting to warrant inclusion? With such a chatty style to the book I wouldn’t have minded if she’d just suddenly randomly announced that she’d met him. Rather that than a clumsy who-cares-if-it’s-true-or-not lame and gross gag.
The conclusion
Overall this was an easy, companionable and entertaining read. If you like Sarah-Kate Lynch’s novels then I’m sure you’ll like this. I’ve never read any of her novels, but if this chatty writing style crosses over to her fiction too – I think I’m going to!
