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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In Life and How to Live It, Chaz Holesworth describes being seventeen in 1995 Philadelphia after CIBA, the born-again Christian school that shaped his days, expels him. The same week, Laura, the girlfriend whose future has become part of his escape plan, is forced by her parents to stop seeing him. Holesworth moves between his grandmother’s house, his parents’ one-room Frankford apartment, Dunkin’ Donuts nights, and a bridge in Pennypack Park while trying to understand why his mind no longer feels like his own. R.E.M. becomes the music he uses to keep hold of himself, with Michael Stipe giving him a model for another way to live. The memoir follows the author through Wildwood, mall friendships, unstable housing, and the belief that music might still lead somewhere.
Chaz Holesworth’s Life and How to Live It offers a candid memoir of the 1990s, which I loved. I was the same age as he was, although my experiences are vastly different. This is what drew me to the memoir. It's incredible to read alternative views of the time. The writing is uniquely raw and courageous, sharing moments of vulnerability where the possibility of having been violated exists, and the potential for further exploitation in exchange for safe harbor is also there. Still, in all of this and everything else the author, as a wayward GenXer, experiences, there are heartening memories. The standout is his Dreamchild moment, where he starts a band with a guitarist after finding a notice at Way Out, a Philadelphia shop with a musician board. A Channel 12 talent showcase then turns the bedroom songs into a public claim on the future, giving the memoir one of its most human passages. Life and How to Live It is an honest account and coming-of-age memoir, and a blast to read. I recommend taking notes and creating a playlist, too! Very highly recommended.
