Title: How to Grow Up: A Memoir
Author: Michelle Tea
First published January 27, 2015
287 pages, Paperback
ISBN: 9780142181195 (ISBN10: 0142181196)
Rating: 3.66
Overview
Michelle Tea’s memoir-in-essays, How to Grow Up, is a gritty and insightful account of her journey towards becoming a mature and responsible adult. Living in a San Francisco communal house, Tea struggled with addiction, low-paying jobs, and a tumultuous love life.
Despite these challenges, she remained committed to her dream of becoming a writer. In this memoir, Tea shares her hard-won lessons about relationships, money, and self-discovery.
With a mix of humor and heart, How to Grow Up is a must-read for anyone navigating the bumpy road to adulthood.
About the Author
Meet Michelle Tea, an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer. Her writing is deeply personal, exploring topics like queer culture, feminism, race, class, and prostitution.
Originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts, Tea now resides in San Francisco. She’s gained recognition for her memoirs that offer a unique perspective into the queercore community.
In 2012, Tea joined forces with City Lights Publishers to create the Sister Spit imprint.
Editoral Review
How to Grow Up: A Memoir by Michelle Tea is a raw and honest account of the author’s journey from a troubled youth to a successful writer and activist. Published in January 2015, the book is a part of the autobiography genre and is written in a conversational, confessional style that is both engaging and relatable.
The memoir is divided into three parts, each representing a different phase of the author’s life. The first part focuses on Tea’s teenage years, which were marked by drug abuse, homelessness, and a troubled family life.
The second part covers her early twenties, when she moved to San Francisco and became involved with the city’s punk and queer scenes. The final part of the book chronicles Tea’s thirties, during which she began to come to terms with her past and started building a career as a writer and activist.
Throughout the book, Tea is unflinchingly honest about her struggles with addiction, relationships, and self-doubt. She also explores themes of gender identity, sexuality, and the search for meaning in life.
The author’s writing is both poetic and gritty, and she has a talent for capturing the essence of a moment or emotion with just a few well-chosen words.
One of the strengths of How to Grow Up is Tea’s ability to create vivid, fully-realized characters. From her dysfunctional family members to her colorful friends and lovers, each person in the book comes alive on the page.
The author also excels at describing the settings in which her story takes place, whether it’s the seedy motels of her youth or the vibrant streets of San Francisco.
Another standout feature of the memoir is the way in which it explores the intersections of race, class, and sexuality. Tea is unapologetically queer and often writes about her experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
She also discusses issues of poverty and social inequality, highlighting the ways in which these factors shaped her own life and the lives of those around her.
While How to Grow Up is a compelling read overall, there are a few areas where it falls short. The book is somewhat disjointed in places, with abrupt shifts in time and tone that can be jarring.
Additionally, some readers may find Tea’s writing style to be overly self-indulgent or navel-gazing at times.
Despite these flaws, however, How to Grow Up is a powerful and inspiring memoir that is sure to resonate with many readers. It’s a story of resilience, growth, and self-discovery that offers hope and encouragement to anyone who has struggled to find their place in the world.
For these reasons, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs or is interested in issues of identity and social justice. I give How to Grow Up a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
