Gawky: Tales of an Extra Long Awkward Phase

by Margot Leitman

Some tall girls grow up to have perfect posture and are later seen gracing the pages of magazines. Some are natural athletes with toned legs that mask their overlarge feet. Then there are tall the ones who are always tripping over themselves; who never look normal in any size of clothing; who literally don't fit in. Comedian Margot Leitman was one of these awkward giants, and Gawky is the painfully funny chronicle of her experiences growing up tall. Reaching five feet six inches in fourth grade—and approaching six feet in high school—Leitman realized early on that she'd always stand out from the crowd. To cope, she developed a thick skin and a sharp sense of humor, and instead of forever trying to blend in, she decided to embrace her center-of-attention status. Leitman wears funky, Ziggy Stardust-era jumpsuits (in the 90s); takes up any cause she can find (whether saving the public beaches or protesting prom); and generally makes as much use of her big presence as humanly possible. Leitman's memoir is a hilarious celebration of growing up gangly.  Endearing and encouraging, is a cathartic release of everything awkward girls endure-and a tribute to a youth larger than life.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2013

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was provided to me for review through NetGalley.

I am a big fan of memoirs. You could probably even call me a huge fan of them.

Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of Gawky.

I wanted to be, I really did. As a memoir fan, and a person of above average height myself, I felt like loving this book was a given. I sympathized with a lot of Margot's feelings on size, and being taller than everyone else. I'm not as tall as she is, but I'm tall enough. With all of those positive marks in Gawky's favor, it seemed like nothing could go wrong.

A lot of my problem was the writing itself. There is nothing wrong with Ms. Leitman's writing, at least not technically (although I did catch a rather annoying error towards the end of the book, it IS an uncorrected proof, so I'm willing to let it slide for now). It was the slightly disjointed way the writing was assembled that bothered me. Things that really didn't need to be repeated more than once were said many, many times, such as her issues with her teeth. There wasn't enough emphasis put on the coming of age part of the story, and indeed, once she found her feet, so to speak, the story came to an abrupt end. It all felt kind of rushed, and because of that, it made the story itself feel shallow and not very well drawn. I think that a tighter edit would have lessened a lot of those issues.

In another way it almost seemed like the author was making a really big deal out of things that ultimately weren't a big deal at all. In the midst of all the problems and klutzy episodes (and really, I expected more of them), she still had a lot of decent high school experiences. She had friends, friends with benefits, and a few adventures of varying levels of romantic success. It seemed like many of the things that were negative about her life were things that almost all teenagers deal with. Being a teenager makes them feel like they're personal, and only happening to you, as I well remember. But the distance and experience that comes with living a few more years should make you realize that it generally wasn't. I don't mean to sound like I'm trying to downplay, or dismiss, her experience. It just didn't work well for me in the context of a published memoir.

One last, subjective complaint. I really expected a memoir by a comedian to be, well, funny. Or at least funnier. Gawky had its moments, but none of them were really laugh out loud funny.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly enjoyed this book as a female growing up in the 90s. Loved her humor

[Ionia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think because I am so short I felt drawn to this book. I have always wanted to be taller and it seemed funny to me that tall people also have issues about their height.

Although this book did have a lot of humour and some of it was truly laugh out loud funny, the way the story unfolded was rather disjointed in places. There was quite a bit of repeat information and it didn't always make a lot of sense why it was arranged the way it was.

For the first couple of chapters the theme of being really tall and awkward took up much of the space, but after that, I felt it was lost in the thread of other awkward moments the author described without any relationship to being too tall.

There was a lot of description of early sexual behaviors and experiences that I didn't really feel were necessary to the story, although some of them were quite hilarious and did show the naive period we all go through as young teens.

Overall, this was an entertaining memoir. It was honest, different and definitely not what I had expected. If you have been through your own awkward phase in childhood, this might be a walk down memory lane for you.

This review is based on a digital ARC from the publisher and provided by Netgalley.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been 5 foot tall since 6th grade & got picked on for it. Can't reach stuff & have to climb stuff to get what is above you & the tall kids all played monkey in the middle with you a lot. So it seemed like being short sucked & I wanted to be taller like everyone else but after reading this book it see that tall people also got issues. I guess you can say this book got me to appreciate my height because I can do stuff tall people can't do or struggle with. Like can they have an adventure & pretend to climb Mt. Everest while climbing kitchen counters to reach some spices in the cabinets? No they can't, they just reach for it. 10 points to Midgets.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was immediately drawn to this memoir (because I'm six feet tall!) and while her height was only a small fraction of Margot's awkwardness, I still really enjoyed the book. She tells the tales of growing up in the '80s and experiencing teen angst in the '90s, with a ton of pop culture references, which I love. She was definitely strange, but unapologetic about it. There were a few laugh out loud moments, but I also said "what the hell?" a few times. I thought the book ended a little too soon. I would have liked to know more about how she adjusted in college.

I received this book from NetGalley for review purposes.

[Stacie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book from NetGalley.

The author writes about her life growing up as a tall, awkward person in New Jersey. Leitman uses humor to communicate her struggles and experiences trying to fit in to a world that isn't quite sure what to make of her. I was hoping for more laugh out loud moments when instead I merely found myself smiling on occasion and wondering when/if the poor girl was going to catch a break. All in all, this was a quick read but not one of the more enjoyable memoirs I've come across.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I've always been average height, I related to Leitman's awkwardness on many levels. I found the book funny, candid and touching - ingredients to a good memoir. As a child of the 80's and a teenager of the 90's, I especially loved how she worked in so many pop culture references. I look forward to looking up her storytelling and other writing. This is a great book to give to a teenager you know who is going through a "gawky" time - which, really, is pretty much every teenager, whether they look it or not.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book about a tall girl because I'm a gawky tall girl myself. But sorry, Margot, you wouldn't have been considered very tall in my family. I'm 6'2" and have two sisters who are even taller. So I was disappointed in that aspect, but the parts about looking older than you are and trying to fit in resonated with me. I think this book could appeal to a lot of people who had a hard time fitting in during middle school and high school.

[Sue-Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from Net Galley. I am short so found this book fairly entertaining learning how the tall ones cope in laugh. There were a few laugh out loud moments in the book but would have liked to have read more. I do know I hope she writes another book about life after school. I somehow think she could continue with the tall stories. Overall this was a quick funny memoir.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A love letter to all the strange (not so) little girls out there who feel like no one understands them, Margot Leitman's memoir is hilarious and heart warming. Read the rest of my review here:
http://www.thewhynottblog.com/book-re...

[Leslie Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, warm, heartfelt, true. I was happy to spend time in her company. Not too pleased about being reminded of what a shit I was in high school. And Margot, I was never mad at you for breaking Christmas. I thought it was funny, and still do.

[Marci · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out amusing, but I ended up worrying about this poor woman. I expected it to be more interesting. I did finish it, I did enjoy reading it. It had some things that I could really identify with but just a warning it is a memoir more than anything. (she does mention this in the intro)

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone else who was, say, 5'4" at 9 years old should read this book. Even though I tapped out at 12 years old at 5'7", I could relate to so many of Margot's misadventures and saw myself on so many pages.

[Nate Dern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margot Leitman rules. She is an incredible storyteller. I had the honor of taking a storytelling class she taught at UCB years ago, and it is awesome to see her putting her storytelling prowess to action.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Especially liked the voice: modest (but not annoyingly so) and funny (but not trying too hard).

[Selena Coppock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leitman weaves a tale of an awkward adolescence and inspires us to laugh along with her and root for her. A lovely book.

[J.J. Landis]

Laugh out loud funny!