I read Dancing With Crazy months ago. I have not reviewed it yet because I have not had time to sit down and write a review that would really give you an idea about how I feel about this book. I didn’t just want to say it’s really good you should read it, although it is.
Emily Pearson writes like she is talking to you. I love this style of writing. It makes you feel welcome to dive right in to her life and read all about it. Dancing With Crazy is a memoir, an extremely graphic memoir, but not in a distasteful way. She is exceedingly honest, which is another brave quality I admire in individuals who write about their lives.
Emily’s story begins with early childhood memories of her life with her family and her relationship with God and religion. These are the constant threads throughout her book. These themes are explored following Emily’s life to the near present. Intermingled, but by no means taking a back seat, are trials and triumphs in her life concerning homosexuality, abuse, and her professional creative self.
Oh man, is that ever a general summary! I want to talk about everything in this book, but that would constitute writing a book myself. There is so much content, I can’t believe she fit it all in to just over three hundred pages. Every page is important. I also do not want to give too much away.
When I read this book I didn’t know very much about Emily Pearson. I knew that her mother was famous, and that’s about it. So for me the book was a bit of a mystery novel. There are shocking and surprising twists and turns and at times you have to remind yourself that you are reading a true story about someone’s life!
This is a quote from the last chapter of Dancing With Crazy:
“I’m done apologizing for being who I am. Life is too short, too beautiful, too creative a workspace and too fun a playground to apologize for being. Live without apology has become my personal mantra. My anthem.”
I thought it seemed like a precise little glimpse into what Emily might really be like in person.