Book: THE BIG REWIND: A MEMOIR BROUGHT TO YOU BY POP CULTURE ~ Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin’s memoir was constructed a bit different than what I expected, but still completely compelling. THE BIG REWIND one of my favorite reads of 2009. With so many writers (both paper and blog-based) coming from positions of privilege, with unlimited access to capital resources, it’s great to read the story of someone who came about this “writing” thing (finally landing at The A.V. Club) after many potholes along the way.
While Rabin certainly did not have an easy upbringing (parental abandonment, institutionalization, group foster homes, torturous relationships with the opposite sex), he really doesn’t seem to wallow in self-pity (maybe self-punishment, but not pity), and by the end of the book he’s made peace with himself.
You can’t always get what you want. Sometimes you get stuck with the worst possible outcome. Sometimes an opportunity you desperately desire goes to someone who represents everything you hate in the world. Sometimes a trip to the emergency room turns into a month in a mental hospital. Sometimes five or six days in a group home becomes five or six years. Sometimes a fifteen-episode renewal turns into a cancellation. Sometimes “Please don’t tell me about anyone you’re having sex with” gets misinterpreted as “Please tell me about how wonderful it was getting gang banged by five strangers.”
But that’s OK.
