Noémie’s review of A Perfectly Normal Childhood: Short Essays on Pattern Recognition, Human Behavior, and the Systems We Pretend Not to See (Still Noticing) > Likes and Comments

Thank you so much! Truly.

This is such a thoughtful review. Thank you.

What really got me was your observation about pattern recognition, because that’s essentially the machinery underneath the entire book. I started out thinking I was writing funny stories about a strange childhood. Somewhere along the way, I realized I was actually documenting the evidence of how a person gets built.

The businesses, the anxiety, the ambition, the ridiculous confidence, the family stories — none of it felt connected when it was happening. Forty years later, apparently everybody left fingerprints.

I also really appreciate what you said about the humor not manufacturing the emotional moments. That balance mattered enormously to me. I never wanted to stop the story and announce, “Here is the meaningful part.” Life generally has the decency to make something funny right before it emotionally ambushes you anyway.

Thank you for reading it closely enough to see what was underneath all the chaos. Reviews like this mean a great deal to me.

Jason