Rate this book

I Wish I Were Engulfed In Flames: My Insane Life Raising Two Boys With Autism (2012)

by Jeni Decker(Favorite Author)

3.44 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1616084855 (ISBN13: 9781616084851)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Skyhorse Publishing

review 1: No. Everything about this book is a no for me. I thought it was going to be a look at the sometimes humorous situations raising kids with autism (I mean, the title sort of implies that). Instead, her attempts at humor (that I didn't find funny) makes it seem as though she can't stand her children, her life, or her husband. Maybe she can't, but that's not really a book I want to read. It's not funny, it's sad. Her humor feels cruel to me. She makes fun of her kids. She reveals completely private information about them. She talks about wanting to die rather than live her horrible life. I can't imagine how her kids must feel (or will feel when they read this book). Her parenting style is also completely different from mine, and that contributes to my feelings about the book a... mores well. She's a filmmaker, apparently, and her films are quite adult in nature. But it seems her two kids (one of whom is five) see it all. One (very benign) example: she complains about her son obsessing about something he saw on Oprah or CNN. Why does she allow her kid with OCD and autism to be exposed to stuff like that? I was endlessly frustrated by this. Expose your special needs kids to adult things and then complain about their reactions in your book...Also, I don't know about her relationship with her husband, but she makes him sound like an idiot she can't stand. I just don't get it. Why are you with this guy, and how is it helpful to publicly make him sound like an unhelpful idiot? And some of the language and themes in the book were not my style. In fact, I had to stop reading partway through and just skim the rest. So off-putting. I'm definitely not the target audience in that regard. I don't think I'm a prude, but it seemed like sex was the only thing on her mind. Maybe some people will relate and enjoy this book, but I absolutely did not. The best thing about it? The stories, poems, and thoughts by her older son Jake. She should have had him write the whole book.
review 2: Jeni Decker is a funny lady, and I definitely laughed audibly on the train while reading this book. However, some of the stories she recounts and the ways she expresses herself are just too off-putting for me to genuinely enjoy the book as a whole. I skipped the chapters on hemorrhoids and her husband's kidneys. There are some wastelands I just can't wade through. Initially, I was uncomfortable feeling her kids were being dragged into the public eye for humor's sake...but clearly this is Decker's therapy. She works through the madness of life with a non-traditional upbringing, challenging offspring, and a dysfunctional marriage by airing it out in public with a loud of snarky, off-colour tales. Though I understand that, it still makes me…squirm a little at the wrongness of putting kids on such display. less

Download links for: I Wish I Were Engulfed in Flames: My Insane Life Raising Two Boys with Autism

Advertising