Furiously Happy – the Book

Furiously HappyFuriously Happy was my book club’s February selection. It’s the memoir of Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, a hysterical blog with periods of depression and anxiety, which pretty much describes Jenny Lawson’s book.  The book is a series of essays, some quite short, others more in-depth. It’s filled with anecdotes about her life including, clips of arguments with her husband, a story of killer geese chasing her down the street, a longer chapter about a trip to Australia.

Furiously Happy – My Thoughts

These moments are brilliant and hysterical. I can’t remember the last time I sat on a plane and laughed out loud.

Okay, that’s not true. I forgot that January 2017, Becky introduced me to Broad City, which had me laughing aloud on our flight to Hawaii. Then in July, I introduced Stephanie to Broad City which had us laughing out loud on our flight to Frankfurt.

However, since the Broad City incidents, reading Furiously Happy had me laughing on my flights to and from Utah as well. Also, much to Chris’s chagrin, in bed next to him as he tried to sleep. Yet, there are some dark moments in this Furiously Happy tale too.


Jenny Lawson suffers from all sorts of mental and physical illness, generically speaking to the first depression and anxiety among them, on the latter, Rheumatoid Arthritis. She does not hold back when describing these illnesses. And while you laugh in some chapters, these other chapters are detailed and can be difficult, even troubling to read.  Yet, if you can get through them, I think you will attain a level of understanding of mental illness that many do not have. I found the chapter on cutting particularly difficult and yet helpful to my understanding. Her use of spoons to describe what it’s like to deal with depression is also a revelation.

I would definitely recommend reading this story for laughs. I’d also recommend reading it for a better understanding of what it’s like to suffer from mental illness. Though I wouldn’t recommend sitting on the couch for a Sunday and reading it cover to cover. I think it would be overwhelming to do that. Better to keep it on your nightstand, reading, and essay a day until complete. I’d give this book four stars, I really liked it.