Lets Never Talk About This Again, Sara Faith Alterman
Lets Never Talk About This Again, Sara Faith Alterman
List: $24.98 | Sale: $17.49
Club: $12.49

Let's Never Talk About This Again
A Memoir

Author: Sara Faith Alterman

Narrator: Sara Faith Alterman

Unabridged: 6 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/28/2020

Synopsis

Samantha Irby meets Bettyville in this darkly funny and poignant memoir about love, loss, Alzheimer's, and reviving her father's pornographic writing career, from writer and Mortified liveproducer Sara Faith Alterman.

Twelve-year-old Sara enjoyed an G-rated existence in suburban New England, filled with over-the-top birthday cakes, Revolutionary War reenactments, and nerdy word games invented by her prudish father, Ira. But Sara's world changed for the icky when she discovered that Ira had been shielding her from the truth: that he was a campy sex writer who'd sold millions of books in multiple languages, including the wildly popular Games You Can Play with Your Pussy. Which was, to the naïve Sara's horror, not a book about cats. For decades the books remained an unspoken family secret, until Ira developed early onset Alzheimer's disease . . . and announced he'd be reviving his writing career. With Sara's help.
In this cringeworthy, hilarious, and moving memoir, Sara shares the profound experience of discovering new facets of her father; once as a child, and again as an adult. Let's Never Talk About This Again is a must-read confessional from a woman who spent years trying to find humor in the perverse and optimism in the darkness, and succeeded.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jenny on August 20, 2020

Such a great and poignant memoir. Made me laugh and cry.......more

Goodreads review by Alicia on January 07, 2021

This is really well loved by most but it didn't do much for me and parts left me somewhat bothered. This is supposed to be a memoir about Alterman's father and her relationship with him, but she makes it about herself for most of the book. I don't know why we needed so many details about things like......more

Goodreads review by Mediaman on August 27, 2020

Mixed feelings about this book--the concept of her dad's life story as a secret sex book writer is an interesting one. And the fact that she discovered his writings at about age 11 should be fascinating. But Alterman does very little with all that. Instead she hides her knowledge of his secret porno......more

Goodreads review by britt_brooke on June 05, 2021

Alterman touches on her childhood focusing largely on her father Ira’s surprising, hidden career, but the real takeaway is the later experience of his Alzheimer’s disease. The early stages are so hard. And denial is a beast. If you’ve ever experienced this with a loved one, then you know. You begin......more

Goodreads review by Monique Reads on December 05, 2020

I loved the premise of this book and while I found parts of this book witty, heart wrenching and charming, a lot of it was frustrating. I understand that the author had a lot to be frustrated about while dealing with her fathers illness, however I also feel there were some other emotions that could’......more

Quotes

"[Alterman] writes hilarious, dark, and touching prose, creating that right level of cringe to inspire others to tell their own problematic childhood stories (baby boomers be damned)."—Chicago Review of Books

"Alterman is a top-notch comic writer, and fans of Chris Offutt's memoir My Father the Pornographer or the podcast "My Dad Wrote a Porno" will especially love this smart, compelling chronicle of family connections and the foibles and contradictions that make us human."—BookPage

"Alterman leavens some heavily emotional subject matter with a razor-sharp sense of humor that will help readers smile through the more painful passages... A vividly written, compassionate homage to a beloved and eccentric parent."—Kirkus

"[A] funny, tender, and compassionate narrative in which Alterman-while living and working on the West Coast and starting her own family-helps her parents navigate this new phase of Ira's life amid his declining mental capabilities due to Alzheimer's."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A memoir that includes stories about writing sex books with her once-prudish father might sound hilarious, which it is, but Let's Never Talk About This Again is so much more. It's also a sweet, tender, and heartbreaking sendoff to her dad that's full of so much humor and love it's almost impossible not to smile, then laugh, then eventually cry."—Dan Marshall, author of Home Is Burning and Life Hacks for Dads

"It's a little ironic given the title but Let's Never Talk About This Again tackles difficult topics with warmth, candor, and humor. Sara Faith Alterman explores the biggest topics, literally ranging from love and birth to loss and death with intimacy and charm and the exact right number of references to Dunkin' Donuts. Every chapter gleams with a skill and level of perspective that make me think: 'What a great brain she has! I'm so glad she squeezed this book out of it!'"—Josh Gondelman, Emmy Award-winning writer, comedian, and author of Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results

"Page after page of the most hilarious and heartwarming honesty. Sara Faith Alterman turns cringeworthy surprises in family life into sweet comedy gold."—Kevin Allison, creator of the RISK! podcast

"A laugh-cry memoir about family myths, unreliable narrators, and forgiveness. Alterman's story about her father is packed with empathy, honesty, and the sharpest New England humor."—Meredith Goldstein, author of Can't Help Myself: Lessons and Confessions From a Modern Advice Columnist

"[Let's Never Talk About This Again] tenderly explores family dynamics and the pain of loss as well as the nuances of humiliation."—Time

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List