My sister slept with the light on until she was 27. She rightfully blames me. I would leap out of closets with my hands made into claws. I would...
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Tabitha Blankenbiller, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by Tabitha Blankenbiller)
Chloe Caldwell's essay collection "Legs Get Led Astray" crackles with fearlessness, honesty and a refreshing lack of sentimentality. The stories of becoming--love, loss, a spectrum of pain--create a cityscape capturing a pitch-perfect sense of New York in the mid-00s. This collection hints at what memoir can become in the hands of young writers, a genre which has the power to transcend the "misery lit" connotations it has earned over the decades. In the hands of writers like Caldwell memoir becomes the excavation of identity, plumbing depths of loneliness and heartache, and trumping growth over absolution.
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sunflower111, August 4, 2012 (view all comments by sunflower111)
An at times heartbreaking account of a young woman's early twenties in NYC.
Caldwell lets her heart break and leaves it open on the page for the reader.
She shows deep down affection for children, sad lovers and the world around her.
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I've read this book twice. And both times I've been blown away (and sometimes shocked) by the raw honesty in the pages. But if I were to tell you what shocked me, it wouldn't be the sex and drugs. It would be that I was left with an overwhelming sense of optimism — in a world that is often hard to find hope in, there it was, shining as brightly as the writing. Caldwell writes about her life but makes it seem like she is writing about mine, yours. I can't wait for what she writes next.
by D. Lozano
"Review"
by Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild, Torch, and Tiny Beautiful Things,
"Chloe Caldwell's Legs Get Led Astray is a scorching hot glitter box of youthful despair and dark delight. Tender and sharp, wide-eyed and searching, these essays have a reckless beauty that feels to me like magic."
"Review"
by Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Chronology of Water,
"Prepare to shed skin. Chloe Caldwell's essays will dare you to dissect your own life. Shot-through with sexuality and sass, her language will get up in you and turn you inside out in the best possible way."
"Review"
by Poe Ballantine, author of Things I Like About America,
"These true stories are raw and heartfelt...gems galore."
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