Diary of an Emotional Idiot

Maggie Estep's talent is in telling stories in a twisiting, gyrating manner, with all the grace of a great dancer. Her prose is undistractingly clear, but has all the wild movement and intensity of Kerouac's spontaneous prose, with all the fluidity and flair of Joyce's stream of conciousness. The nice thing about the book is that many of the constructions and catchphrases are also used in her songs. The sentences push ahead with a poetic rythm, enforced by her nasal, yet surprisingly sharp voice, almost singing in my head. It's no surprise this book is the work of a poet...

I simply love her stuff...I had the pleasure of stumbling into a copy of "Diary of An Emotional Idiot" in a discounted bin at my local bookseller. I am the sort of reader who is usually reading three to four books at a time, but Ms. Estep's writing forced to me to abandon all other reading material, and each chapter was more absorbing than the last. I own her CDs and "Soft Maniacs", her sophmore effort, but for my buck, her first try out with "Idiot" is her finest. Sure, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you may feel a little violated, but you will not be disappointed. Unforunately, I lent out my copy in a moment of hysterical generousity, only to later discover this title was out of print. I never saw that copy again, and had much difficulty finding any bookseller who did. I finally found a copy at auction, and was very relieved to have it nestled happily with the rest of my books....Of course, with the bite that "Idiot" has, it may it need its own shelf. Highly Recommend.

I am heartbroken that this book is no longer in print. A few years ago, when I was flat broke, I found myself so engrossed by it that I read it while sitting on the floor of a bookstore because I couldn't afford to buy it, not just once but twice. Now that I can afford it it's unavailable. Estep is strange, original, and gruesomely funny; this (apparently) autobiographical first novel is unlike anything else I've ever read, a mixture of high culture, punk rock, drugs, sex, romance, and idealism. Throughout Estep chronicles her own and others' losses and dreams with spare, deadpan sentences. These events almost seem to speak for themselves, but of course it is a mark of her artfulness that we have the impression that the story tells itself.

Months ago my best friend Erin told me to 'check out Maggie Estep' So I did and I listened to a couple of the soundbits from her CD. Among those was the song "I'm an emotional idiot" This intreaged me. However I forgot about it. A couple months later while being on Holiday in the US I remembered and bought Maggie's CD. This was brilliant and made me check for more of her work. When I found out about this book I ordered it. a week later I got it and started reading. I was immediately gripped by the intro. For once a book about people you can relate to. I haven't seen that very often. I was finished 3 days later(and might I say that English isn't my native language). It's fast-paced, humorous and written in a style that's easy and fun to read. It's about everyday people with problems that normally are not talked about much and protraits them in a way that makes you think why people don't talk about them. You follow the leadcharacter Zoe thoughout her life which is a wild ride to say the least. Bad parents, sex and drug addicts, bad relationships and the odd heavymetal guitarist. Diary Of An Emotional Idot has it all. All I can say is buy it. It's brilliant. I can't wait to read her forthcoming novel. *wishes it would be the winter of 1999 already so he can get Soft Maniacs*

I do understand how people who have never been there just would not 'get it'. But many of us have lived half our lives as Emotional Idiots, and been ridiculed, scorned, punished, and cast out for it. Maggie let's the guts lie right out on the table. We are not leppers or psycho's....we are trained and weathered to believe that this life is 'normal'. When one finally realized how ABnormal this is, your whole life looses it's shape, matter, form, and perspective. We are trained form babies to be this way for some reason. I do not feel alone anymore. Maggie is brilliant! and I think Zoe must be my sister!