this is not the story you think it is…a season of unlikely happiness

by Laura Munson

Wow. What a fun memoir. I loved it. Loved every word. I found this book at our bookstore, and it does not really come out until April. The book is the memoir by Laura Munson, who happens to live in Whitefish, Montana! Can you believe that? I think she is about 8 years older than all of my friends, but she moved to Montana the same year my family did.

The book was also summarized in a New York Times column last August.

In summary, her husband asked her for a divorce, and told her he did not love her anymore…and she responded by telling him she just did not buy it. HA. The article gives away the ending of the story, but that does not mean you should not read the book. I would say the book is kind of like (sorry Elizabeth Gilbert; I think you are wonderful) a less whiny Eat, Pray, Love.

I love how she talks to the reader. I do that to.

Her main point of the book, though, is not about her divorce, but about how she went about letting everything else go, and only seeking to find happiness insider herself. She was the only one who could make herself happy.

When I started working at POGO, Keith told me a story about working at the Gray Panthers. A lot of elderly people would call the Gray Panthers everyday looking for help with problems. Instead of just telling them they called the wrong place, Keith typed up a list of phone numbers for the commonly asked questions. His boss heard him giving out this information and told him to just hang up on the people. Keith told him, he couldn’t.

“You can pick up the phone, or you can put down the phone. You are in control of the phone.”

This phone story is a metaphor for a lot of things I think about in my life. I am in control of the phone. I think Laura feels the same way about happiness: she is in control of her happiness.

She also tells the reader how to grill the perfect burger: don’t turn it over until the juices in the burger are bubbling.

There were lots of places in this book when I wanted to call Laura up and just hang out. She could be in my friend group no problem.

This is her first published book. She has written 14. Can you even imagine? So go out there and get this one!