Ahoy there mateys!

Mental illness is not a laughing matter. Well, unless ye read this book that is. Ye see mateys, this book has a psychotic raccoon on the cover. I picked it up because I a) heard it was funny and b) thought it was a young adult book that had something to do with silly raccoons. No joke.

Well turns out it is a memoir by a woman named Jenny who has a lot of mental illnesses, an actual taxidermied raccoon named Rory who is the featured on the cover of this novel, and many crazy stories to share.

As the author states in her disclaimers at the beginning of the book:

"This is a funny book about living with mental illness. It sounds like a terrible combination, but personally, I’m mentally ill and some of the most hysterical people I know are as well. So if you don’t like the book then maybe you’re just not crazy enough to enjoy it. Either way, you win."

I must be crazy because I found a lot of the stories to be laugh out loud funny. I had to read whole sections out loud to the first mate because they were just too good not to share. And while the situations the author finds herself in are sometimes absurd and seemingly unreal, I still found them extremely human at the same time and relatable.

Feeling unproductive as a grownup? Check. Being unable to sleep for long stretches at a time? Check. Not wanting to be around people – ever? Check. Embracing the quirkiness of being who ye are? Check.

Add in things that wouldn’t occur to me or haven’t happened to me like:

- dressing up as a koala in Australia while attempting to hold koalas
- participating in a sleep study that sounds more like a horror movie
- leaving voicemail messages for yerself at 2:00 in the morning
- dealing with killer cannibal swans
- pondering how to survive the zombie apocalypse, the airport, and the zombie apocalypse at the airport (okay I may have done this one)

Seriously I am not funny enough to do the humor in this book justice. But the humor is not the whole point. At the root of the book, there is a woman embracing life in spite of all of the difficulties life has thrown at her. Whether it is her anxiety or depression or just the day to day struggle to exist, underneath is a love for life and a determination to win through in the end. To be furiously happy and savor the moments she can. That is the true joy in the book. As she says:

"Be bizarre. Be weird. Be proud of the uniquely beautiful way that you are broken.
Be furiously happy."

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/