The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones
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The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones Hardcover – May 5, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Performer-humorist Loh (A Year in Van Nuys, 2001) isn’t going crazy. She is heading straight into menopause, and her experiences and thoughts on the topic are hilarious, comforting, and enlightening. Here she speaks honestly about herself and others, sparing little about the perils of being a middle-aged woman, single or married, in the twenty-first century. As she points out, “By 2015 nearly one-half of American women will be menopausal.” Moreover, many of these same women will be also working, raising children, and taking care of their parents. Sound grim? Or, perhaps, sound familiar? Loh has cleared this treacherous, necessary path with her own wildly humorous story, a few facts here and there, and her funny and eye-opening summations of advice from the many change-of-life books she has plowed through. Loh made a mess of things—impulsively divorcing her husband for a lover, then kicking the lover out, then letting him back in—yet Loh also put everything back together in a different, blessedly workable form. Misery may never prove better company. --Eloise Kinney
Review
“The Madwoman in the Volvo reads like a weekend away with the best friend you ever had—blazingly vulnerable, scorchingly smart, and funny as hell. It’s both an intimate portrait of one woman as she approaches menopause and a full-throated cultural howl about what it means to be female and forty or fifty or sixty something in America today. I was filled with recognition as I read the book’s first pages and flooded with gratitude by the end. . . . A beautiful book you’re going to miss after you’ve read the last page.” (Cheryl Strayed)
“[Reading this book] I laughed maniacally, nodded in empathy, hooted, teared up, and laughed some more. And while you could make the case that with a menopausal woman, that could have happened even had I spent the time gardening, in this case I am pretty certain it was the author’s doing.” (Mary Roach)
“Loh is that rare writer who is howlingly funny on the surface and subtly brilliant just beneath. Here, she turns her eagle eye to her own midlife "crises": motherhood, marriage, men (old and young), and madness of all kinds—not least her own. Goes down like cheap wine—fast and furiously—yet at the end, instead of a hangover, you have a bold and beautiful new view of life.” (Cathi Hanauer, author of Gone and editor of The Bitch in the House)
“[A] brave and witty memoir.” (Judith Newman - New York Times Book Review)
“Does what every memoir ought to do: it reminds the reader she’s not alone.” (Claire Dederer - Los Angeles Review of Books)
“[Reading this book] I laughed maniacally, nodded in empathy, hooted, teared up, and laughed some more. And while you could make the case that with a menopausal woman, that could have happened even had I spent the time gardening, in this case I am pretty certain it was the author’s doing.” (Mary Roach)
“Loh is that rare writer who is howlingly funny on the surface and subtly brilliant just beneath. Here, she turns her eagle eye to her own midlife "crises": motherhood, marriage, men (old and young), and madness of all kinds—not least her own. Goes down like cheap wine—fast and furiously—yet at the end, instead of a hangover, you have a bold and beautiful new view of life.” (Cathi Hanauer, author of Gone and editor of The Bitch in the House)
“[A] brave and witty memoir.” (Judith Newman - New York Times Book Review)
“Does what every memoir ought to do: it reminds the reader she’s not alone.” (Claire Dederer - Los Angeles Review of Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By
takingadayoff
TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on April 9, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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If you or someone you live with is due for the menopause soon, you may want to hold off on reading this book. Sandra Tsing Loh has not written a book to ease your mind. She is focused on telling the most entertaining story possible of her experiences, and exaggeration is a key element. At least I hope it is, because if not, well, just imagine the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil on a bad day and you'll have an inkling of what she experienced in the years as she approached fifty.
The Madwoman in the Volvo is not just about Loh's looming menopause -- it also touches on raising two girls approaching their teens, on Loh's failing marriage and aftermath, on caring for aging parents, on losing a parent, and on upper middle class suburban life in Southern California.
It's been a few years since I last checked in with Loh. I remembered her as a funny and sarcastic writer. As a writer and entertainer, she's fearless -- she doesn't mind being the one in the crowd who's talking a little bit too loud or swearing in front of the kids. If she were in your social circle, she'd be the one who embarrasses the rest of you in a restaurant, but it's worth it because she's so funny and honest.
In The Madwoman in the Volvo, she ratchets it up a few notches, at the risk of losing a few fans, possibly. It helps that she mentions in her acknowledgments that some of the characters she writes about are composites and although she does have a sister who is important in her life, the sister she writes about is a partially fictional one. I hope (and suspect) that the Sandra Tsing Loh she writes about is also partially fictional.
The Madwoman in the Volvo is certainly no how-to guide, more of a how-not-to guide. It's not just for laughs, either. You may find yourself commiserating with Loh's experiences, even as you feel grateful that she doesn't live in your neighborhood.
(Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for a review copy.)
The Madwoman in the Volvo is not just about Loh's looming menopause -- it also touches on raising two girls approaching their teens, on Loh's failing marriage and aftermath, on caring for aging parents, on losing a parent, and on upper middle class suburban life in Southern California.
It's been a few years since I last checked in with Loh. I remembered her as a funny and sarcastic writer. As a writer and entertainer, she's fearless -- she doesn't mind being the one in the crowd who's talking a little bit too loud or swearing in front of the kids. If she were in your social circle, she'd be the one who embarrasses the rest of you in a restaurant, but it's worth it because she's so funny and honest.
In The Madwoman in the Volvo, she ratchets it up a few notches, at the risk of losing a few fans, possibly. It helps that she mentions in her acknowledgments that some of the characters she writes about are composites and although she does have a sister who is important in her life, the sister she writes about is a partially fictional one. I hope (and suspect) that the Sandra Tsing Loh she writes about is also partially fictional.
The Madwoman in the Volvo is certainly no how-to guide, more of a how-not-to guide. It's not just for laughs, either. You may find yourself commiserating with Loh's experiences, even as you feel grateful that she doesn't live in your neighborhood.
(Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for a review copy.)
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By
BarthYi
on May 21, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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THANK YOU for writing this book. For some time I thought I was losing my mind but now I can see that I'm not - that this sudden urge at 42 to upend my whole life is normal and that if I do upset the delicate balance of things - there is light and laughter on the other side.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
Joelle L. Good
on May 15, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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Sandra Loh`s book was exactly what I needed right now. I spent my time weeping or laughing throughout the book but at least I no longer feel alone and crazy!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By
Sheryl Gurrentz
on July 13, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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Thank you for bringing some much-needed publicity to this strange period in women's lives. No one in their 40's should be surprised to be dealing with some crazy changes to body, mind and soul during this stage of life! I am fairly confident that none of us expected this, so it's nice to know we are not alone. The more we talk about it and share information the better!
Sheryl Gurrentz, co-author
A Strange Period.: Insights into the Bizarre Experiences of Perimenopausal Women
Sheryl Gurrentz, co-author
A Strange Period.: Insights into the Bizarre Experiences of Perimenopausal Women
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By
Deb Amorelli
on June 4, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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I've read a few books by women over 50 who are dealing with life at this stage of their lives. I am over 50 and enjoy reading about the similar experiences of other women dealing with the same things as I am. But there is nothing about this book that made me chuckle. Did I identify with some of the topics she writes about? Yes. But nothing she writes elevates this book to entertain me. I was disappointed. I am almost done with the book and I don't really care if I finish it. That says it all.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By
Ellen N.
on May 5, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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Clearly this book is not for everyone, but I found it light, entertaining, and a fun quick read. I'd guess the best audience is 50+ women who have bought several self-help books over the years and have taken at least one yoga class. "-}
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
Kathryn Penso
on June 28, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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Of course, it is hilarious. This is my first (definitely not my last) experience with Sandra Tsing Loh, but obviously, funny is her thing. However, it isn't just funny. Underneath the humor is some really deep and even painful life. That is why I love this book. Because going through life itself, never mind menopause, can be harrowing and laughing at it, seeing the ridiculousness of it, is what can save you from madness. Even though Ms. Loh inhabits a world I will never belong to, the story she writes about her year with peri menopause is completely relatable. I guess it must be the humor or her description of herself as not getting it quite right that makes me feel like I get it, like my own experiences, while vastly different, have an essence that is shared by all women of this age and stage just trying to get through the days. I went on Facebook after the first couple of chapters and told all my over forty friends to read it. Then, half way through I wanted my husband to read it, all husbands to read it, my two kids to read it! I want to hold it up and say, "Look people! This is what is happening to me OKAY? Just give me a break already!" She is my new favorite. I'm now going to find her other writings and read those too. Thank you Sandra! (Sorta feel like we're on first name terms now) Read this book. If there were more stars, I'd click on those too!
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By
Kyliegirl
on May 28, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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This was such a frustrating book! When Sandra Tsing Loh's writing is good, it's very, very good. Funny, heartfelt, interesting. But when it's bad, it's awful. I marvel that she was willing to portray herself as so entirely narcissistic. Her interesting study of the "menopause industry" gets lost beneath the story of her unending array of selfish choices, and how surprised she is to learn that the world does not revolve around her. When she's not talking about herself, she's a great writer. But for most of this book, she's talking about herself.
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