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| | Issue #20.01 :: 07/30/2008 - 08/05/2008 | “Trailer Trashed: My Dubious Efforts Toward Upward Mobility”
By Hollis Gillespie
| BY J. EDWARD SUMERAU
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“Trailer Trashed: My Dubious Efforts Toward Upward Mobility”
By Hollis Gillespie
Layered in laughable, lopsided, linguistic humor, Hollis Gillespie’s “Trailer Trashed: My Dubious Efforts Toward Upward Mobility” is a wonderful land of well-crafted humor within a world of spellbinding wit.
A voice brimming with dry, sarcastic beauty, Hollis Gillespie offers a wonderful display of powerful humor in this memoir. Following the releases of “Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch” and “Confessions of a Recovering Slut," her latest work showcases her talent for finding the insane within the ordinary events of a life. Author of a featured column in Atlanta’s independent weekly Creative Loafing and a commentator on National Public Radio’s "All Things Considered," Gillespie has found her place in the world with a shocking ability to create masterful observations out of the tiniest details of life.
Littered with harmonious narratives and splendid curiosity inspiring sarcastic witticism, Gillespie’s latest is a powerful exploration of her own experience. On full display for the world, she enters her childhood, her familial relationships, her inner sanctuary of friendships, and her newfound status in the world of writing with an intense vision of the manic depressive nature of today’s society. In this regard, she offers a vivid portrait of the insanity that surrounds the average life.
Highlights from this collection of her life include her ability to repeatedly murder a man named Patrick in more and more hilarious ways, her sister’s purchase of a robotic moose head, her friend Lary’s forays into Nicaragua and Mexico, and her constant attempts at half-assed home remodeling. Between the episodes, a wonderful narrative containing a massive display of comic timing and sarcastic ability creates an infusion of humor hard to describe.
Furthermore, the insatiable quality of passages concerning the good sister Kim who often holds the only voice of reason in Gillespie’s world, and the bad sister Cheryl whose exploits will leave even the most imaginative readers scratching their heads provide a wonderful background to the unfolding narratives within this collection. Placed alongside a father selling trailers and a mother building bombs, Gillespie’s family is a core constituency crossing all possible lines of expectation, and in so doing, leading wonderfully hilarious lives. Throughout the work, Gillespie surrounds her personal narrative with a cavalcade of uproarious characters worth their weight in comedic gold.
Built with impeccable timing and wonderful wit, Gillespie’s latest is an adventure in the average life complete with telling observations and insistent conflicts. Heartwarming at times, inspiring at places, and littered with hilarity throughout, Gillespie offers a splendid third option to fans of Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris.
Gillespie, Hollis. “Trailer Trashed: My Dubious Efforts Toward Upward Mobility.” Guilford, Connecticut: Skirt! Publishing (An Imprint of the Globe Pequot Press). 2008. 266pp. $21.95 Cloth. ISBN: 9781599213859.
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