memorysnow reviewed Giving up the ghost by Eric Nuzum
Review of 'Giving up the ghost' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
If you can glean anything from its overstuffed title, it's that this book is about too many things. The book's strengths lie in its memoir sections, particularly towards the middle and end, wherein the author describes his troubled adolescence, experience in a mental ward, and his deep connection to a mysterious girl named Laura. The memoir is woven together with several investigative journalism segments, in which the author confronts his fear of ghosts by visiting several purportedly haunted sites around the country. While mildly entertaining, and somewhat related to the ghostly girl who tormented him in his youth, the connection of these sections to the rest of the book becomes tenuous as the author shifts his focus from that little ghost girl to his friendship with Laura. The best parts of this book were the ones in which the author explored how our pasts remain with us, and haunt us …
If you can glean anything from its overstuffed title, it's that this book is about too many things. The book's strengths lie in its memoir sections, particularly towards the middle and end, wherein the author describes his troubled adolescence, experience in a mental ward, and his deep connection to a mysterious girl named Laura. The memoir is woven together with several investigative journalism segments, in which the author confronts his fear of ghosts by visiting several purportedly haunted sites around the country. While mildly entertaining, and somewhat related to the ghostly girl who tormented him in his youth, the connection of these sections to the rest of the book becomes tenuous as the author shifts his focus from that little ghost girl to his friendship with Laura. The best parts of this book were the ones in which the author explored how our pasts remain with us, and haunt us even many, many years into the future, and I would have liked to read more exploration of that concept than the halfhearted foray into ghost hunting. Rounding up from 2.5.