Broken (In the Best Possible Way)
Jenny Lawson
2021 · 285 pages · Memoir
How it reads
Broken (In the Best Possible Way) is memoir (humorous mental-health memoir, specifically), and its dominant mood is funny. The humour is the point, not garnish. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.
It's set in several locations, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are identity, family and loss and grief. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 285 pages it's a quick read. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something funny
- you want a complete story in one book
- you want to be sure it ends well
Maybe not if…
- you need something melancholy, dark or tense
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- memoir
- Author gender
- female
- Author experience
- prolific veteran
- Setting: place
- multiple locations
- Setting: time
- contemporary
- Mood / feeling
- funny
- Pace
- moderate
- Tone / weight
- balanced
- Length
- short
- Narrative style
- first person, one narrator
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- well known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- identity, family, loss and grief
- Ending style
- resolved and happy
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
- Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc.David SedarisShares: memoir, funny mood, moderate pace, resolved and happy ending
This Will Only Hurt a LittleBusy PhilippsShares: memoir, funny mood, balanced tone, moderate pace- What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in EssaysDamon YoungShares: memoir, funny mood, balanced tone, moderate pace
Sh*t My Dad SaysJustin HalpernShares: memoir, funny mood, moderate pace, resolved and happy ending
Solutions and Other ProblemsAllie BroshShares: memoir, funny mood, balanced tone, moderate pace- Magical Thinking: True StoriesAugusten BurroughsShares: memoir, funny mood, balanced tone, moderate pace
Appears in
Find a copy
Reviews on Goodreads ↗Match Book earns a commission on purchases made through these links, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, Match Book earns from qualifying purchases.