Tramps Like Us: A New Jersey Tale

by Kristen Buckley

New Jersey native Kristen Buckley travels through a series of catastrophic detours she calls childhood--one that was anything but normal. Set adrift after her parents divorce, Buckley embarks upon an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1905736231
• ISBN13: 9781905736232
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Cyan Communications
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Putting the "New" in New Jesey, Original and Very Funny

The childhood memoir done with more smarts, warmth, and decidedly more laughs than usual. On more than one occasion, I literally had to put the down down until my laughter subsided a bit. The most strange and wonderful paradox about Buckley's world is that it seems at once both completely familiar and completely original. It is her skill at storytelling and her fantastic knack for details that win the day. Very funny and smart, smart, smart!

I LOVED this book.

This book is hysterical. Buckley deftly mines her family's stories to great comic effect, while still presenting a warm and affection portrait that always rings true. Everyone is quick to jump on the "dysfunctional family" bandwagon. Finally someone can make us laugh about it! There are parts of this book that are so funny that you'll just have to share with someone. I've been reading whole sections of the book out loud to the assistants in our office and they cannot get enough of it... Funny, funny read and perfect for anyone who was a kid in the 70s or 80s...

I keep laughing even after I finished the book!

I blazed through this hilarious book faster that anything I've read in ages! And then, as I began the final chapter I realized my remorse at gobbling up the book -- I hated the idea of finishing it! Buckley's heartfelt, wry and oh-so-wise observations and recollections about her wacky family and their beyond colorful Jersey world repeatedly, successfully took me right back to my own 80's teen life...from the Stouffer's Frozen French Bread Pizza mention to her passion for meeting Sting and The Police, I found myself completely charmed and absorbed. I've told all my high school friends this is a can't miss...right down to the special Index of terms and book lists, which is one of the coolest aspects of the book. What a fun read! Perfect for the beach this summer.

Eggers, Burroughs and now.. Buckley

I'm usually pretty skeptical when it comes to memoirs. Why should I spend time reading about someone when all they've managed to do is live a life a little less ordinary? Still, I read many a memoir on the off chance that I'll be wowed (much as I was with Running With Scissors or Heartbreaking Work). Lucky for me... Tramps Like Us delivered. Buckley's story is quirky, witty and imaginative. More than that, it resonates on a lot of different levels. Her honesty in sharing her experience, and her candor and skill in conveying it put her right in league with the big boys (Eggers, et al)... Her voice is original and new and should not be passed over.

Beatnik with a sense of humour

I Loved this book! The Writer perfectly channels Jack Kerouac and Carol Burnett simultaneously...Heart Wrenching and hilarious at the same time I wasn't sure if I was wiping my eyes from laughing or crying....We should all be so lucky as to have a mother like hers.