Life's too effing short

I can't remember if I've ever read a self-help book before. I've flicked through a few at the library and hmmphed a bit at them, especially things like Women are from Venus type crapola. But I'm determined to branch out a bit in my reading, to try things I've never tried before. But this one, Life's too F---ing Short, was a bit of a compromise: it is written by Janet Street-Porter (whose autobiography I read recently), so a familiar voice mixed with the unfamiliar.

In this book, as to be expected, Janet Street-Porter tells it like it is. You feel she's having a good time sharing. It's about how she deals with things and she can't see any reason why you can't do the same.

If you were looking for a psychological treatise, emo-indulgence or sympathy - you'd be daft, this is Janet Street-Porter!
If you were looking for a swift kick up the backside, however, you'd be in the right place.

She's got a lot of interesting opinions and my granny would say she's got grit*. Some people would say that a woman with four marriages and several relationships behind her has a nerve giving relationship advice (in one chapter) but she sees her serial monogamy as success, and I liked that. She makes no apologies and doesn't appear to waste energy on recriminations or self-loathing. And in truth, what is the point of looking back and wishing you could change things and being down on yourself**? It is far better to view the past and who you are positively.

She kicks bottom.

I kind of feel it's a book she knocked out in her lunch-time, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's all you self-helpers deserve***! Haha. It's not a book that is going to change your life, but it might help you get your head on straight. I did find the changing font size and colours a bit irritating after a while, but over all I enjoyed the book a great deal.


* Although she would've disapproved of JSP, probably.
** Of course there is room for self-improvement and self-analysis (possibly not for JSP, but for most of us!), but it's getting the balance right.
*** Pretending to be a Janet Street-Porter.