I read Sara Barron’s previous memoir, People are Unappealing, and don’t remember much about it but when I saw this is my “recommended reads” on Amazon I figured I would give her a try. In The Harm in Asking Sara Barron focuses on “everyday life,” pulling from her childhood up to present day with varied results.
The first section of the book isn’t great, there are a lot of bowel movement references… Once Sara begins fixating on whether or not she could be come a lesbian it becomes a much more enjoyable read (she fails spectacularly). She moves out of her parent’s house and heads to New York for college, New York is really where the memoir finds its footing.
I don’t think I could be friends with Sara in real life, she is a bit unhinged, but her loose grasp on reality makes for a fun read. I particularly enjoyed her confession that, about a year into living alone for the first time, she found herself speaking to and caring for an invisible dog. A French bulldog, named Eleanor, who she made sure moved with her when she changed buildings a few years later.
Sara Barron’s second memoir was a serviceable read, but nothing to heap extraordinary praise on.
