READER VIEWS BOOK REVIEWS

Growing up poor and working class, the victim of abuse, I was immediately drawn to Chaz Holesworth’s funny, honest, and sometimes tragic coming-of-age tale, Life and How to Live It. While my own childhood presented difficulties, Holesworth’s upbringing was truly harsh. Throughout the pages of this uncensored and raw memoir, he is nevertheless able to forge a path forward and find himself through the love and appreciation of music. In songs like R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” and similar anthems by other seminal, generational artists, such as Kurt Cobain, the author sets forth on the path of making meaning on his own terms and healing the wounds of a painful coming-of-age process.