Why I’m Like This: True Stories
by Cynthia Kaplan
Format: Paperback 209 pp; 12.95usd
Available Formats: Paperback
Publisher: Perennial

Why I’m Like This: True Stories is a compilation of essays about the author's life. Kaplan shares life experiences we all have, but are too afraid to discuss with others for fear of being judged—or criticized, or worse, people thinking we’re strange.

Kaplan has been compared to David Sedaris; Sedaris she’s not, but some of her essays are funny, especially in the beginning of the book. In “A Dog Loves a Bone,” Kaplan describes going to her first junior high dance with Kevin Parker. During the her first slow dance to “House on Pooh Corner,” Kevin pushes his hard body against her with his head on her shoulders and rubs her back and all up and down her sides. She remains frozen and, when the song is over, Kevin whispers not unkindly in her ear, “You can wake up now.” (12)

During summer vacation, Kaplan meets Jamie Karlin at pool party. When he asks her to rub sun block on his back, she says, “He had the most unbelievable, fair, freckly skin. Had I this moment to live again, I would have offered to apply the sun block later, in private, with my tongue.” (15)

There are some funny points, but the essays lose their humor as the book progresses—perhaps because this book spans from her early teens through the dating years, marriage, and her trouble conceiving a child.

In the last chapter, “The few, the proud,” Kaplan compares French Truffle Pigs to hard-working Americans, describing how the French Truffle Pigs spend their lives in search of truffles; the one thing they love, yet when they find them, it’s something they can’t have. “And you’ll tell your children and your children’s children that yes, you were part of that elite society. You were one of the few, the proud. You, a truffle pig. How many can claim that distinction? And finally, at the end of the day, after the reminiscences and the songs, after the anecdotes, after all, you will have convinced yourself, as well. You will have convinced yourself that you did your best, that these were the chips you were dealt, this was the life you were destined to live. Because to think otherwise, to think otherwise, my friends, would be unbearable.” (209) It’s a dark essay, and it's difficult to understand what Kaplan is trying to convey to the reader.

My recommendation for this book is lukewarm. These essays span the author’s life and the writing reflects changes in the writer's skill level from one essay to another. Some of the essays don’t seem to belong in the book, but one of the text's appeals may be its peculiar quirkiness—a characteristic that may well be a part of the writer's personality. Nevertheless, I’d pass on this one and look for something with a little more substance.

Copyright 2003, All Rights Reserved, Julia Brown