Lopsided: A Memoir

by Meredith Norton

Hardcover, 2008

Status

Available

Call number

XXII Nor

Collection

XXII. PERSONAL STORIES

Publication

Penguin Books (2009), Edition: Reprint, 224 pages

Description

Lopsided is not your ordinary cancer memoir. Neither too serious nor too saccharine, Meredith Norton displays the razor-sharp wit of a masterful humorist as she chronicles every step of her experience, from the first appearance of her bizarre symptoms while she was living in Paris to having to moving back home to California to live with her compulsive parents and their five television sets. Alongside the hilarious and harrowing portrait of her treatments, Norton offers equally amusing memories of her offbeat life, ranting about the innumerable copies of Lance Armstrong's cancer survival book offered by well-meaning family and friends and railing against self-pity and victimhood. Irreverent, down-to-earth, and incredibly funny, Norton's memoir brings a refreshing burst of attitude to a difficult experience she refuses to be intimidated by.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member writergal85

Meredith Norton, the child of a surgeon, grew up in an exclusive neighborhood and attended private school. [“My privileged upbringing had instilled in me a sense of entitlement that didn’t need reinforcing. That is really the American dream—not working hard and buying things, but reaching a

place where there is no pressure to acknowledge that you already have everything.”] She was often one of only a few black girls at her school and has many white friends. A few of the friends she had who have since gone their separate ways now contacted her when they heard she had cancer and tried to make amends for their youthful disagreements. There’s one girl, Amy, who accused Meredith of stealing money from her on a ski trip even though Amy attended school on scholarship and Meredith came from a more wealthy family. The entire thing reeked of racism for Meredith at the time and she walked away from Amy forever.

Woven through her experiences as a cancer patient, Norton reminisces about her life experiences. Before she became an expatriate and moved to France and married Thibault, Norton had many occupations. She worked for three years as an inner-city 8th grade English and U.S. history teacher. She produced a game show in England. For three years, she and her best friend Rebecca ran a design company called Norton Whittaker Inc. that went bankrupt and nearly destroyed their friendship.

Norton chronicles her unilateral mastectomy [“What was left of my chest, my lone boob, served no purpose whatsoever but presented plenty of problems. If I wanted to appear presentable, I was forced to wear a falsie”], losing her hair [“no stubble, just smooth, rubbery skin stretched tight and waxy. I spent hours caressing it.”], chemotherapy [“About midway through the chemo my nails started to change color. My fingernails were so sensitive that I found myself lifting things with the heel of my palm and turning pages with my elbows. Slowly, the purple crept higher and higher up my nail bed and the white slowly pulled back to meet it.”], chemotherapy also caused her to void a grayish-brown noxious-smelling urine, hot flashes [they caused her to sweat right through her pillow even when sleeping in her underwear], fear of her mortality [“But what the therapist said was true: if I died prematurely Lucas wouldn’t even have any context in which to place me.”], and her distain for cancer survivor Lance “Live Well” Armstrong.

There’s a plethora of memoirs in the bookstores these days but I assure you that you will not regret reading Norton’s Lopsided. Whether you have a connection to cancer or not, Lopsided is a scintillating read. Norton is your friend, your college classmate. She’s that sassy woman you want to join your book club or invite for a cup of coffee. Her sharp, sardonic sense of humor propels this book from page one.

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LibraryThing member bridget3420

Meredith is trying to figure life out. She's a free spirit who is constantly following her whims. When she finally decides to settle down, she's in Paris with her husband and they have a child. Desperate for a change of scenery, Meredith and her baby boy fly to the US to spend time with her

parents. While she's there, she pulls out her boob for her mother's inspection. Her mother's reaction scares Meredith into seeing a doctor. The good news is Meredith hasn't lost her sense of humor and allows you to ride shotgun on the story of her life.

This book is a really fun read. Meredith is an extremely likable person and I truly hope that she uses her writing talent to tell many more stories. If you have boobs, you should read this book. And this isn't a book that's just for the ladies. I actually knew a guy in his early twenties who passed away because of breast cancer.

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LibraryThing member E.J

Ah, Meredith Norton you are hilarious. This book was absolutely hysterical which made such a real book very readable. I don't mean real like she described every little procedure in medical terms (which a lot of these kinds of books have done) but real like your best friend was real when she told

you about that one night stand she wished she hadn't had. I loved this.

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LibraryThing member sandra.k.heinzman

One of the best memoirs I've read! This woman is funny, honest, irreverent, smart, and someone I would love to be friends with. For anyone who has been touched by breast cancer, I highly recommend this book.

LibraryThing member sandra.k.heinzman