👆🏼my most recent non-fiction read (@doubledaybooks #gifted)

This is classified as a “memoir in essays” and I enjoy that genre. I can see why a lot of people are loving this one. The essays are wide-ranging and there’s a bit of something for everyone.
Thoughts:

I enjoyed some and found them meaningful.

Others were funny, with Hauser’s wry tone and self-deprecating humor keeping me entertained.

There were some focused on pop culture and, like Emma Straub’s newest, most of the references were before my time and I couldn’t get into them.

A few felt too long and repetitive. [I hate to say that about memoirs, which I usually leave no rating, but for the sake of #totallyhonestreviews, I’ll include it.]

Thank you to the publisher for my copy! Though I can’t rave about this one in its entirety, there truly is something for everyone and you should pick it up if you enjoy essay collections and/or memoirs. Some were really great!

Sadly this is just a case of being the wrong person for this book. I can see how these essays could work really well for others but the writing style isn’t for me and after trying multiple essays, I decided to DNF. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

After hearing an interview with CJ Hauser on NPR, I was charmed by her ideas about what love is, that there are so many iterations of love in our lives, that relationships come and go and are no less successful because they didn't last until death. The essays in the book expand and detail these theories in the most excellent examples of creative nonfiction I have encountered in years. While themes of love and breakups repeat in almost every essay, each was a fresh take on Hauser's lived experiences. I have read the whole book and intend to reread it right away.

Note: I also borrowed my library's audiobook copy, and Hauser's reading of her own essays is delightful. Listening felt like being in conversation with a close friend. It isn't often that a writer reads as well as she writes, but Hauser proves the exception.

An absolutely stunning memoir from a writer I had never heard of before but will be reading voraciously from now. It is rare to read a book of essays or memoir where the writer allows readers to see them, flaws and all. CJ Hauser is a writer writer, one of those authors who writes so well it almost makes you angry. Angry because you want to be able to write like that, to lay it all bare for the reader to experience even though you're life is a hot mess.

The author did not hold back at all in this book and to be honest, I felt relieved. I saw myself in this book, even though Hauser and I couldn't be more different. We both have done extremely stupid things because of men, the kind of men we thought we deserved. We both desire peace and tranquility in our homes and don't need a partner to mess it up. And both of us have tried to fix men who did not want (or deserved) our fixing.

More than once I found myself saying out loud, "oh girl, don't do that," even though Hauser had already done the thing. One of my favorite essays in the collection, "The Second Mrs. de Winter" had me riveted because I also love "Rebecca" (the film, never read the book). Hauser melded that story with her own experience with a divorced man and it was an incredible read.

I understand why so many people were raving about this book on Twitter. Because it is that good, no, that great. I MUST have a finished copy to keep in my home library.

Writing of lovers and love, a relatable memoir. I especially liked the essays about her dad and her DD breasts. A slow and savoring read. Interested now to read her other works.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

The Crane Wife is a charming collection of essays about the author's life and thoughts. Hauser writes about love, relationships, and her interests. It took me a little while to get into, but I'm glad I kept reading. The author is very insightful, funny, and interesting. I really enjoyed her tender and thoughtful writing style. I especially liked her chapter on John Belushi and scattering her grandparents' ashes. I listened to the audiobook, which was well narrated by the author.

Thank you Doubleday Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!

This was so thoughtful, funny, and thought-provoking.

I enjoyed every moment reading. I am already looking forward to re-reading this one day. I already purchased a hard copy to own.

The Crane Wife, in a nutshell, is an elegant collection of writings about relationships and the complexities of adult life. The imagery used by Hauser is hauntingly beautiful: the title essay, in addition to Hauser's story of her Tallahassee homes, were two stand-outs. Hauser's voice ranges from love to loss, although the latter theme tends to get repetitive. In addition, there is a lot of intellectual wandering and I found myself in unexpected places that sometimes left me unsettled. Some of these longer pieces, like The Philadelphia Story, begin strong but end up being overly drawn out and again, repetitive (which, unfortunately, I felt about the collection as a whole). Ultimately, I appreciate Hauser's dedication to her journey to find her place in the world, however I can see the majority of her work as better suited for a magazine or journal as opposed to a whole collection. I would suggest to future readers to read them as such: taking long breaks between pieces so as to better appreciate them all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE CRANE WIFE
By CJ Hauser

I was first drawn to this book because of its title. I wanted to know what a crane wife was.

I’m not sure I’m any closer to understanding that than I was when I picked up this book but I am a lot further than you are.

So let’s get you caught up.

The namesake story, THE CRANE WIFE, based on a story of nocturnal unbecoming, was amongst my favorites.

I found it to be honest and creative and I have vivid pictures in my mind now of featherless birds and bald but happy and wild women.

I also enjoyed the small story titled HOPE 2008. It was short story #23 within the smaller rapid-fire chapters titled: Twenty Seven Love Stories.

I still HOPE!

But the one that got my heart and gave me chills and made me feel complete and whole was UNCOUPLING.

That essay was perfection.

I think the beauty of the collection is the creative structures of the story and the textured nature of the memoir. There are metaphors and parables and folklore tales sprinkled throughout making it feel like storytelling.

THE CRANE WIFE…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books Doubleday for this advanced copy!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this series of personal essays by CJ Hauser - 5 stars!

This book is made up of wonderful short essays that speak of love, loss, hope, happiness and, trust me, you will find stories that speak to your heart. There are things here to ponder, go over, reread. Things that will make you laugh, feel happy, feel blessed. I loved all the X-Files references since that series has been a staple in my life as well, along with the John Belushi story. While your life experience will no doubt look different than the author's, these common themes and feelings will resonate with all humans if you let them. Please let them. Also - shout out to Upstate New York!

Like many others, I was enthralled with Hauser's 2019 essay published in The Paris Review. Without having a mirrored experience to Hauser's, her essay felt so honest and relatable that it stuck in my mind for days. I reread it several times. I could hardly wait for this full collection, which bears the same name as her aforementioned essay.

The Crane Wife (the collection) had everything The Crane Wife (the essay) had that I loved so much. Hauser is readable and relatable (at least to me, admittedly in a demographic very similar to her own), and I did not feel stuck in any individual essay, which happens to me quite often in collection. There were a few essays where another piece of media served as an anchor, and they worked quite successfully without breaking stride. I'm sure it didn't hurt that one of these was on du Maurier's Rebecca, one of my all time favorites.

As the autobiographical essay is prone to do, the stories in Hauser's collection are focused through her lens. Her worldview. I suppose if yours is somewhat similar, you may find additional resonance compared to those who find less commonality. I mention this because the main critique I've seen of The Crane Wife is that it holds a certain repetitiveness, but I found this to be such a silly take! Hauser is writing through moments in her life which greatly impacted her emotionally and mentally. Many of them grapple with love, loss, finding home, and finding yourself. Who isn't shaped by these? Who doesn't fight to find their way through them? Who isn't looking for a way to weave them through your experiences, learning something useful from your pain, your mistakes, your love?

Regardless, if you've found yourself here because you loved The Crane Wife (the essay), rest assured you will also love The Crane Wife (the collection). It's sharp, warm, and left me ready for more.

This collection of essays is personal and intimate. Hauser is navigating the dating world while being a woman, a bisexual, a person who may want children, a person with deep friendships. Her audiobook narration adds to the reading experience.

I read Hauser's essay The Crane Wife in 2019 and thought it was a beautiful piece of writing, so I was excited to read more of Hauser's essays. The essays tell stories from her life through different lenses, such as the X Files, Shirely Jackson, and The Fantasticks. One of my favorites was The Second Mrs. de Winter which looked at a failed relationship through the lens of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. It was slow, contemplative, and occasionally a little sad, but I enjoyed all the essays.

An unusual and elegant memoir of relationships. I, unlike many who will eagerly seize this book, missed the what I now know is the famous Crane Wife essay so this was a fresh and unexpected read for me. That's a gorgeous essay, with imagery that sticks in the mind. The other 19 essays both expand and go laterally on the themes of love, loss, and hope. Hauser uses Rebecca, the Philadelphia Story, and, of all people, Jim Belushi as cornerstones. I would caution that this should be read not in one sitting but rather one essay at a time a day at a time in order to more fully appreciate (and avoid a slight sense of repetitiveness) the work. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Terrific read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC!

I've been looking forward to this book ever since I saw the news of its deal, following the electrified reception to C.J. Hauser's title essay in The Paris Review. This is a book that I needed to read right now, a book that takes readers on the author's journey to refuse to make herself small for the sake of a relationship. Through these pages, Hauser reflects thoughtfully on failed past relationships, grants her younger self the kind of grace any memoir reader craves, especially when writing about her inability to accept her own queerness at an earlier age. I loved the way this book dissects culture, from the Daphne du Maurier novel "Rebecca" to the films "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Philadelphia Story," as a way of revealing truths about the narrator's conception of love and her self. "The Crane Wife" will come as a comfort to many readers who may be experiencing some version of their own personal turmoil, with a winsome, funny, vulnerable, smart narrator serving as guide.

This book has some amazing moments (like the Crane Wife essay) but a lot of fluff (the Philadephia Story essay lost me). I'm not sure I would recommend it as a whole book but would recommend essays here and there.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I heard about the title essay "The Crane Wife" when it was read by so many people a few years back, but I never got around to reading it. I should have, because it's brilliant, and several of the other essays collected here are satisfying in the same way. A few of the essays were a bit of a struggle to get through (namely the X-Files one), but each possessed at least some nugget of wisdom or clarity that made it worth the read. In her best work, Hauser does an incredible job of exploring what it's like to be a woman in the world, to figure out that the goals and dreams we've held onto might not have a strong foundation, to learn that friendship and knowing yourself and connecting with family members are more powerful than the drama and strife of romantic love. It can be hard for me to connect to the voice of someone who grew up with as much privilege as Hauser seemed to (for example, she seems to have easily seen as many plays and shows in New York as she wanted as a teenager -- "I got tickets," she says, so easily), but enough of this felt universally relatable and wise that I got past that disconnect. I love essay-style memoirs, and I would recommend this one to anyone who seeks out beautifully written essays that are painfully honest.

Hauser's writing is gorgeous -- I loved Family of Origin and was thrilled to see she was releasing a memoir. Each essay is insightful and engaging, personal and informative.

I was really excited to read this book after falling in love with Hauser's essay "The Crane Wife" when it was published previously. There was much to love in this essay collection and Hauser is skilled at weaving the threads together into a cohesive collection. The essays primarily focus on Hauser's continuing and growing understanding of self, often realized through her romantic relationships. Personally, I found the first section of essays to be the most compelling but each subsequent essay gave me something to love, to consider, to remember.

'The Crane Wife' is a book I typically go for when I want to read a memoir and reading it reminded me of why I love memoirs. These series of essays reflects CJ Hauser's life as she remembers it. She dissects every relationship from the idea of being a "Crane Wife' and shedding her feathers for love. It was sad at some parts, it was funny and light in others.

The only downside to this book comes to me because while I was reading this novel I was doing a study abroad program in Peru. I couldn't help but think that CJ Hauser was "complaining" about all her failed relationships. I think if I was in a different state of mind I would have enjoyed this book a lot more.