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Giving Up the Ghost: A Story About Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to Be Haunted
At once hilarious and incredibly moving, Giving Up the Ghost is a memoir of lost love and second chances, and a ghost story like no other.
Eric Nuzum is afraid of the supernatural, and for good As a high school oddball in Canton, Ohio, during the early 1980s, he became convinced that he was being haunted by the ghost of a little girl in a blue dress who lived in his parents� attic. It began as a weird premonition during his dreams, something that his quickly diminishing circle of friends chalked up as a way to get attention. It ended with Eric in a mental ward, having apparently destroyed his life before it truly began. The only thing that kept him from the his friendship with a girl named Laura, a classmate who was equal parts devoted friend and enigmatic crush. With the kind of strange connection you can only forge when you’re young, Laura walked Eric back to “normal”—only to become a ghost herself in a tragic twist of fate.
Years later, a fully functioning member of society with a great job and family, Eric still can’t stand to have any shut doors in his house for fear of what’s on the other side. In order to finally confront his phobia, he enlists some friends on a journey to America’s most haunted places. But deep down he knows it’s only when he digs up the ghosts of his past, especially Laura, that he’ll find the peace he’s looking for.
Eric Nuzum is afraid of the supernatural, and for good As a high school oddball in Canton, Ohio, during the early 1980s, he became convinced that he was being haunted by the ghost of a little girl in a blue dress who lived in his parents� attic. It began as a weird premonition during his dreams, something that his quickly diminishing circle of friends chalked up as a way to get attention. It ended with Eric in a mental ward, having apparently destroyed his life before it truly began. The only thing that kept him from the his friendship with a girl named Laura, a classmate who was equal parts devoted friend and enigmatic crush. With the kind of strange connection you can only forge when you’re young, Laura walked Eric back to “normal”—only to become a ghost herself in a tragic twist of fate.
Years later, a fully functioning member of society with a great job and family, Eric still can’t stand to have any shut doors in his house for fear of what’s on the other side. In order to finally confront his phobia, he enlists some friends on a journey to America’s most haunted places. But deep down he knows it’s only when he digs up the ghosts of his past, especially Laura, that he’ll find the peace he’s looking for.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
63 people are currently reading
3,165 people want to read
About the author
Eric Nuzum
8books74followersEric NUZUM is a writer, cofounder of podcasting company Magnificent Noise, and creator of iconic podcasts. He is considered a leading “go-to� expert in audio, podcasting, radio, and spoken word entertainment. He led NPR’s initial podcasting efforts in 2005 and remained that effort's leading creative and strategic force for a decade. As a creator, he developed some of NPR’s most successful podcasts, including TED Radio Hour and Invisibilia. He continued his track record of success during his tenure as Audible’s leader for short-form content and podcasting, creating such recognized podcasts as Sincerely X (another co-production with TED), The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson, and Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel. He is also the author of Giving Up the Ghost: A Story About Friendship, 80s Music, A Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to be Haunted (2012), The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula (2007) and Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America (2001). Nuzum was awarded the National Edward R. Murrow Award for News Writing and his work has appeared in a few publications you’ve heard of and many more that you haven’t heard of. Eric is based in the New York City metro area.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 235 reviews
August 24, 2012
This book isn't really about ghosts. It's about sadness and growing up and the way the world likes to stifle the creative spirit. It's about friendship and loss and finding acceptable ways to express yourself when you can't get your brain to settle down. It's about darkness and acceptance of that darkness and how sometimes the world is poetry but mostly it's not. It's about how the very best thing about a person is often the very worst thing as well. It's about how it's amazing that anyone lives through adolescence and that sometimes you have to decide to be happy because in the end no one can do it for you.
January 27, 2019
This book was one hell of a journey, and I'm not sure I've read anything like that before. At first I was nearly sure it was fiction - I had bought it a while ago and had forgotten what it was supposed to be about. After a while, I noticed the name of the author and the main character was the same. That's when it dawned on me it's not fiction at all.
It's sufficiently weird for non-fiction, until you realize it's really a story of loss, mental health struggles and some really weird coincidences (I mean, probably coincidences?). But I got invested in what the author had to tell, because I too was a struggling teen, although maybe not in quite such a messed up way he was.
Essentially, it's a powerful, but deeply sad and lonely story of letting go. It revolves around the fears and paranoias the author had when growing up, but not just that - also all the losses suffered, and mostly the loss of a very important close friend. Reading the book, and especially by the end, I was transfixed by how loved that friend must've been. There's a scene where he goes to her grave and is sad about the fact that there isn't even a marker with her name on it, no headstone or anything. When I was finishing the book, I thought he built her the best monument ever - better than any stone would have ever been. A book that readers from across the world will stumble upon, read and think of his beloved best friend, while they look at a photo of her beautiful face, which is included, by the way. It's truly very gripping, when you think about it like that.
I don't know if I can recommend this book or not. I enjoyed it, but it was also sad and hard to make anything of. If you're doing some soul searching, you will probably enjoy it too. But in a way, I feel like keeping this book and my reading of it almost a personal moment. Just between the author and me. Weird feeling, when you think about it � so many people read one author's book, right? But it wouldn't surprise you if you read this book too. There's just something about the way it was written that makes you feel that way. Like the reading a book that talks about such an intimate friendship also somehow becomes an intimate act.
So I find myself submerged in the silence after having read it - wanting to just stay still and think about it some more.
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It's sufficiently weird for non-fiction, until you realize it's really a story of loss, mental health struggles and some really weird coincidences (I mean, probably coincidences?). But I got invested in what the author had to tell, because I too was a struggling teen, although maybe not in quite such a messed up way he was.
Essentially, it's a powerful, but deeply sad and lonely story of letting go. It revolves around the fears and paranoias the author had when growing up, but not just that - also all the losses suffered, and mostly the loss of a very important close friend. Reading the book, and especially by the end, I was transfixed by how loved that friend must've been. There's a scene where he goes to her grave and is sad about the fact that there isn't even a marker with her name on it, no headstone or anything. When I was finishing the book, I thought he built her the best monument ever - better than any stone would have ever been. A book that readers from across the world will stumble upon, read and think of his beloved best friend, while they look at a photo of her beautiful face, which is included, by the way. It's truly very gripping, when you think about it like that.
I don't know if I can recommend this book or not. I enjoyed it, but it was also sad and hard to make anything of. If you're doing some soul searching, you will probably enjoy it too. But in a way, I feel like keeping this book and my reading of it almost a personal moment. Just between the author and me. Weird feeling, when you think about it � so many people read one author's book, right? But it wouldn't surprise you if you read this book too. There's just something about the way it was written that makes you feel that way. Like the reading a book that talks about such an intimate friendship also somehow becomes an intimate act.
So I find myself submerged in the silence after having read it - wanting to just stay still and think about it some more.
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June 23, 2012
I am so excited! I just found out that I won this book on GoodReads! I will read it as soon as I receive it. Thank you.
Came home from work to find the book waiting for me. I was surprised to get it so quickly! Thank you again. I will post again once I have finished reading it.
Great book. I read the preface and really wasn't sure it would interest me, but once I started reading I couldn't stop. In fact, I was annoyed to go to work without finishing it! I love books that I connect with so thoroughly. It was such an honest book--I think a lot of people will relate to this story. Many of us have had periods of real suffering and confusion and a lot of us internalize and don't share our pasts. Sometimes just reading somone else's experiences can be cathartic. I will definitely share this book and will look for other books by Eric Nuzum.
Came home from work to find the book waiting for me. I was surprised to get it so quickly! Thank you again. I will post again once I have finished reading it.
Great book. I read the preface and really wasn't sure it would interest me, but once I started reading I couldn't stop. In fact, I was annoyed to go to work without finishing it! I love books that I connect with so thoroughly. It was such an honest book--I think a lot of people will relate to this story. Many of us have had periods of real suffering and confusion and a lot of us internalize and don't share our pasts. Sometimes just reading somone else's experiences can be cathartic. I will definitely share this book and will look for other books by Eric Nuzum.
July 18, 2012
With quotes on the back cover of my ARC from Chuck Klosterman and Rob Sheffield, I guess I was expecting quite a bit from this book. And I think seeing those two names had be expecting something very different from what I got. Additionally, I think the subtitle gives a different impression than what the book is really about. I'm not entirely sure I can elucidate what exactly this book is about - it's a memoir, I got that part covered. But is it about Nuzum's fear of ghosts, grown from an adolescent belief that his room was haunted? Or is it about Nuzum's struggle with life and coping mechanisms, which ultimately led to a stay in the psychiatric ward? Or is it about Nuzum's complicated and undefined relationship with Laura, a girl he knew in his teenage years who died suddenly? I suppose it's about all these things, and others, but it doesn't really feel like the book I think it wanted to be. With the quotes from Klosterman and Sheffield, I expected humor - and there is none of that in this book. In fact, I found this book depressing and not particularly pleasant to read. Additionally, I feel like this is a very incomplete memoir - it covers only a small period of Nuzum's life and definitely leaves the readers with more questions than answers. All this is not to say that it was terrible - it had its moments. But it was not the book I expected to read and it just didn't end up being my cup of tea.
I won this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.
I won this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.
May 26, 2015
Everybody has a ghost story. I had what could be called a "paranormal" incident when I was younger, although as time passes and my skepticism grows, I often wonder if I imagined it.
There is a certain tragedy in that.
Eric Nuzum, in his book "Giving Up the Ghost" would probably feel the same way. Nuzum, a Canton native, was personally haunted, in his dreams and in his everyday life, by a terror-inducing vision of a young girl in a blue dress starting when he was about ten years old until his early 20s.
These visions (skeptics would call them "hallucinations") led him inevitably to thoughts of suicide and a short stint in a psychiatric hospital, although Little Girl (as he began to call her) was the least of his problems by the time he reached his teens.
Alcoholism, drug abuse, reckless and severe anti-social behavior were the norm.
The one person to stand by him during this time was a friend named Laura, a girl with problems of her own. She was Nuzum's best friend and first true love.
Years later, when Nuzum was out of college and living a relatively "normal" life, he found out that Laura was killed in a car accident.
Today, Nuzum is happily married with a young son, but he is still haunted, and he knows he will be forever.
Alternating between his tumultuous past and a calmer present, Nuzum examines both a personal and public view of what it means to be haunted. Attending spiritualist conventions, seances, ghost hunting expeditions, and spending nights in extreme haunted locations such as the Mansfield Prison, Nuzum tries to find the answer to the age-old question, "Are ghosts real?"
What he discovers is that there is no easy answer to this question. As he elegantly puts it, "If by ghosts you mean cloudy spectral things that float around a room, say, "Boo," and then vaporize into thin air, then no. I don't believe in that... I don't believe that places are haunted, but I do believe people are haunted. People carry around the ghosts of their past, the people they've known, the world they've experienced. Most of the time, we never notice they are there."
Ghosts and hauntings are distinctly personal things, and they often represent the way we personally deal with loss or failed relationships. Nuzum has written a fantastic book that is both heart-warming, humorous, and, at times, goosebump-raising.
Regardless of whether one believes in actual supernatural entities we call ghosts or the psychological scars of a troubled past, "Giving Up the Ghost" touches upon the universal theme of grief, loss, and loneliness.
There is a certain tragedy in that.
Eric Nuzum, in his book "Giving Up the Ghost" would probably feel the same way. Nuzum, a Canton native, was personally haunted, in his dreams and in his everyday life, by a terror-inducing vision of a young girl in a blue dress starting when he was about ten years old until his early 20s.
These visions (skeptics would call them "hallucinations") led him inevitably to thoughts of suicide and a short stint in a psychiatric hospital, although Little Girl (as he began to call her) was the least of his problems by the time he reached his teens.
Alcoholism, drug abuse, reckless and severe anti-social behavior were the norm.
The one person to stand by him during this time was a friend named Laura, a girl with problems of her own. She was Nuzum's best friend and first true love.
Years later, when Nuzum was out of college and living a relatively "normal" life, he found out that Laura was killed in a car accident.
Today, Nuzum is happily married with a young son, but he is still haunted, and he knows he will be forever.
Alternating between his tumultuous past and a calmer present, Nuzum examines both a personal and public view of what it means to be haunted. Attending spiritualist conventions, seances, ghost hunting expeditions, and spending nights in extreme haunted locations such as the Mansfield Prison, Nuzum tries to find the answer to the age-old question, "Are ghosts real?"
What he discovers is that there is no easy answer to this question. As he elegantly puts it, "If by ghosts you mean cloudy spectral things that float around a room, say, "Boo," and then vaporize into thin air, then no. I don't believe in that... I don't believe that places are haunted, but I do believe people are haunted. People carry around the ghosts of their past, the people they've known, the world they've experienced. Most of the time, we never notice they are there."
Ghosts and hauntings are distinctly personal things, and they often represent the way we personally deal with loss or failed relationships. Nuzum has written a fantastic book that is both heart-warming, humorous, and, at times, goosebump-raising.
Regardless of whether one believes in actual supernatural entities we call ghosts or the psychological scars of a troubled past, "Giving Up the Ghost" touches upon the universal theme of grief, loss, and loneliness.
August 16, 2012
One of the best things about Giving up the Ghost is that it is not the memoir you expect. From the publisher's description it sounds like it's going to be sort of a search for information about his friend, but mostly a somewhat serious/somewhat silly romp through paranormal places. It's not that. Not even close.
If you were ever different as a kid, ever bullied or just shunned by the other kids around you, you're left with two basic choices: conform or defy them. Mr. Nuzum chose to defy his classmates and it's a choice I can relate to because I also steadfastly refused to conform and made a lot of bad choices along the way. It was very easy to me to relate to Mr. Nuzum, stuck in small town Ohio, wanting something different, but not sure what, doing too much damage to yourself along the way. I was fortunate because my early bout with depression was caught at its beginning and I was very fortunate to see a wonderful therapist where I was first in college. At that time there weren't a lot of anti-depressant options, but she saw me three times a week, listened to me, guided me firmly, and helped me talk my way through to the other side. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't had her help.
We all know what it's like to be haunted, I think - by people or places or dreams that never came true - something about all the possibilities that didn't reach their potential sticks with us. It is all of that that is so hard to forget. Mr. Nuzum's brutally honest memoir takes the reader through one person's life (so far) and that person's attempts at self-destruction and ultimate desire to be whole. While I'm not sure he reached the conclusions he might've wanted, the journey is interesting and I'm glad he chose to share it. Lots of people have similar pasts, similar ghosts, but not everyone writes about it with such straightforward honesty. A good, if sometimes difficult, read.
If you were ever different as a kid, ever bullied or just shunned by the other kids around you, you're left with two basic choices: conform or defy them. Mr. Nuzum chose to defy his classmates and it's a choice I can relate to because I also steadfastly refused to conform and made a lot of bad choices along the way. It was very easy to me to relate to Mr. Nuzum, stuck in small town Ohio, wanting something different, but not sure what, doing too much damage to yourself along the way. I was fortunate because my early bout with depression was caught at its beginning and I was very fortunate to see a wonderful therapist where I was first in college. At that time there weren't a lot of anti-depressant options, but she saw me three times a week, listened to me, guided me firmly, and helped me talk my way through to the other side. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't had her help.
We all know what it's like to be haunted, I think - by people or places or dreams that never came true - something about all the possibilities that didn't reach their potential sticks with us. It is all of that that is so hard to forget. Mr. Nuzum's brutally honest memoir takes the reader through one person's life (so far) and that person's attempts at self-destruction and ultimate desire to be whole. While I'm not sure he reached the conclusions he might've wanted, the journey is interesting and I'm glad he chose to share it. Lots of people have similar pasts, similar ghosts, but not everyone writes about it with such straightforward honesty. A good, if sometimes difficult, read.
September 10, 2012
I heard the author interviewed on NPR and I was pretty apprehensive at first- a guy talking about his dark and tangled teen aged years, 80s rock, and the paranormal? It could be right up my alley or force me to do serious neurological damage from severe and repeated eye-rolling. I'm pleased to report that this book fit into the former category. I appreciate the fact that the author resisted the urge to sum things up or package them a little more clearly cut than they originally occurred because he had the benefit of retrospection or because he felt the need to put it out as a "cautionary tale". I'm divided on how to rate it- I did not bust out my highlighter or find myself stricken with awe at the writer's skillful weaving of words, but instead I enjoyed his genuine and honest voice: he let the funny things be funny, he allowed the sad/tragic to have space in the reader's mind and he shared a story that was as compelling to read as it was familiar to me.
February 5, 2017
I found this book at Dollar Tree! The title intrigued me, so I figured I could take a chance on it, since I was only out a dollar. I'm glad I did.
The writing didn't blow me away or anything, but the author's story--about his close friendship with a girl during a turbulent time in his teenage years--was touching, evocative and original. I found myself tearing up several times throughout this story, and no matter what a book's shortcomings may be, if it can touch me that deeply, I am grateful.
If you grew up in the '80s, are in to ghosts, or enjoy exploring the line between reality and unreality, mental illness and mental health, then you might really like this book.
The writing didn't blow me away or anything, but the author's story--about his close friendship with a girl during a turbulent time in his teenage years--was touching, evocative and original. I found myself tearing up several times throughout this story, and no matter what a book's shortcomings may be, if it can touch me that deeply, I am grateful.
If you grew up in the '80s, are in to ghosts, or enjoy exploring the line between reality and unreality, mental illness and mental health, then you might really like this book.
November 13, 2022
Not the most interesting of memoirs. At times, Nuzum struggles with focus (not every event contains meaning or significance or relevance). He is also often oblivious to what is going on with others. For example, Laura moves back from New York, but does not let him know. He is surprised by this, but he moved without giving her the new address and also does not seem to realize that maybe she needed a break from him. In fact, I felt the memoir picked up a bit when Nuzum is sent to a mental institution because at last some of the previously unspoken issues in the text could be raised.
Unfortunately, overall, this book never congeals. From Nuzum's POV, Laura was a mystery and so she remains always a mystery to the reader as well. This means that ultimately the book is not a very satisfying read. There is no pay-off.
Unfortunately, overall, this book never congeals. From Nuzum's POV, Laura was a mystery and so she remains always a mystery to the reader as well. This means that ultimately the book is not a very satisfying read. There is no pay-off.
June 22, 2012
I'm a sucker for a good memoir so when I won this book through ŷ I was excited to give it a go. Giving up the Ghost is easily one of the best memoirs I have read to date. Although the entire book revolved around Eric Nuzum's experiences with ghosts and his own personal hauntings, it actually felt like a story that we can all relate to in some way. Of course we all might not be scared of the ghost of a little girl in a blue dress or enjoy hallucinogenics on a regular basis, but this memoir is a story that addresses facing personal ghosts of any kind. I felt like it was something anyone could take a bite of.
I immensely enjoyed Eric Nuzum's writing style. This was my first experience with his work but it was very genuine and full of well-placed humor while still being balanced with emotion and tear-jerking memories. The only thing I found lacking in the book at all was a few pages near the end where Nuzum begins to wax poetic with life-lessons - which was good for a few paragraphs but ran a bit too long. However, this was a minor complaint and every other second I spent reading the book was exhilarating!
Another thing that I thoroughly enjoyed about the book was the setting. Although many people may not be able to relate, I currently live in the Cleveland area so many of the events in the story occur a short jaunt from my home and the setting felt very real to me. I've walked in many of the same locations he has so some of my own ghosts dwell near those places. It's not too often you get to have an experience like that with a book.
Congrats to Eric Nuzum for writing such a compelling story. You don't need to be a believer in ghosts to fall in love with this book!
I immensely enjoyed Eric Nuzum's writing style. This was my first experience with his work but it was very genuine and full of well-placed humor while still being balanced with emotion and tear-jerking memories. The only thing I found lacking in the book at all was a few pages near the end where Nuzum begins to wax poetic with life-lessons - which was good for a few paragraphs but ran a bit too long. However, this was a minor complaint and every other second I spent reading the book was exhilarating!
Another thing that I thoroughly enjoyed about the book was the setting. Although many people may not be able to relate, I currently live in the Cleveland area so many of the events in the story occur a short jaunt from my home and the setting felt very real to me. I've walked in many of the same locations he has so some of my own ghosts dwell near those places. It's not too often you get to have an experience like that with a book.
Congrats to Eric Nuzum for writing such a compelling story. You don't need to be a believer in ghosts to fall in love with this book!
July 9, 2012
Every so often a book comes along that stays with you long after you've read the last word. This is one of mine. The author is obsessed with ghosts of all kinds. Ghosts in the attic. Ghosts in his memory. Ghosts in his heart. Giving Up the Ghost is an emotional amalgamation. On one hand, Nuzum's account of cruising a dark and forbidding road rumored to be haunted by everything under the sun and moon was so incredibly funny that I found myself reading passages to friends and co-workers. But it was like laughing and cheering a man as he begins the descent of his first skydiving attempt, only to realize that his parachute has failed to open. All that is left to do is either turn away or stay with him until the very end.
I chose to stay. And I watched in horror as the author rocketed into a death spiral, only to be plucked back at the last instant by his best friend and Brian Eno's Music for Airports.
It's not an easy book to read. Nuzum's recurrent dream of a Little Girl in a Blue Dress screaming gibberish at him is disturbing. His descent into alcohol and drugs is disturbing. His increasing anti-social behavior, school failure and eventual commitment to a psych ward? All disturbing. Yet, through it all, his relationship with the enigmatic Laura is the only glue that keeps him from completely shattering. Their bond is fragile steel.
Nuzum tells a story of painful beauty. It resonates with furious devotion. It's about coming to terms with yourself. It's about dealing with loss. It's about accepting and owning your ghosts. It is bittersweet and poignant. This will be going up as my staff rec the very instant it is in stores.
I chose to stay. And I watched in horror as the author rocketed into a death spiral, only to be plucked back at the last instant by his best friend and Brian Eno's Music for Airports.
It's not an easy book to read. Nuzum's recurrent dream of a Little Girl in a Blue Dress screaming gibberish at him is disturbing. His descent into alcohol and drugs is disturbing. His increasing anti-social behavior, school failure and eventual commitment to a psych ward? All disturbing. Yet, through it all, his relationship with the enigmatic Laura is the only glue that keeps him from completely shattering. Their bond is fragile steel.
Nuzum tells a story of painful beauty. It resonates with furious devotion. It's about coming to terms with yourself. It's about dealing with loss. It's about accepting and owning your ghosts. It is bittersweet and poignant. This will be going up as my staff rec the very instant it is in stores.
August 27, 2012
Oh man, I wanted to love this book. It's about, among other things, lost love, haunted places, and it's set in Ohio. I even interrupted reading two other books to read this one because I was so excited about the possibilities. However, it just never comes together into anything other than essentially a list of events and a bunch of cliched conclusions.
February 11, 2013
It's hard to give a book like this a bad review because my feelings about the author and my personal feelings about this whole situation definitely come into play. It's a hard thing. You might want to give a book a two-star rating, but somehow differentiate that from giving a person or his life a two-star rating. The guy clearly went through some very rough things, and I don't want to armchair quarterback his life.
The book feels, to me, like it was written too soon. In the thick of the whole thing. I don't even mean too soon chronologically, but too soon psychologically. That's the blanket feeling I'm tucking this one in with.
I DID, however, want to talk about the back of this book, the expectations it set up, and how it kind of spoiled the book for me.
I would preface this review with "spoiler alert" except for the fact that the only spoiler in here is one that's on the back of the book.
"The only thing that kept him from the brink: his friendship with a girl named Laura, a classmate-an enigmatic crush- who walked Eric back to "normal." Then, in a tragic twist of fate, Laura became a ghost herself."
This is a prime example of what I like to call the Iron Man Setup.
Most people have seen the movie Iron Man, so I'm not going to explain the whole thing, but as in most super hero movies we go through a painfully slow origin process. Check out most super hero movies. It takes around 45 minutes before the first shield is thrown, web is slung, and flame is on'ed.
In the preview for Iron Man you see Tony Stark emerge from a cave in a primitive version of the Iron Man suit, at which point he promptly starts blowing up terrorists. Rad.
In the movie, Tony Stark is captured and made to work on some weird missile or some bullshit, and the whole time you're supposed to be wondering how he's going to get out of this pickle. EXCEPT THAT YOU SAW IN THE FUCKING PREVIEW THAT HE BUILDS AN IRON MAN SUIT AND BLOWS EVERYONE UP. Not to mention that you are 100% aware that you're seeing Iron Man. It came up in huge letters on the screen, it's printed on your ticket, there is a sign above the theater you entered. We are very prepared to see an Iron Man.
So, if I hadn't seen that preview, and furthermore if I didn't already know that the movie I was watching was Iron Man, this double-cross while he was supposed to be constructing a missile would probably be an awesome reveal. It would be a Welcome to the Matrix moment of pure fanboy glee. But it's not. We already have every expectation that it's coming. In fact, we as the audience know more about it than everyone in the goddamn movie. And two minutes into wondering if he's really making the missile thingy, I'm squirming in my seat and thinking, Jesus Christ, get in the damn Iron Man suit already.
Alright, so the back of this book tells us that this key person dies. So you expect, and and honestly I thought, the book would have a lot more to do with the aftermath of this death than the death itself. At what point does our hero learn about this death? Page 259 of 305. Almost 85% of the way into the book. Moreover, he learns about it in a strange, revelatory sort of way. If the narrator is experiencing this as a surprise, if shock and surprise is part of the emotional equation, I need to experience that shock and surprise on some level too, and that's just not possible for me as I've already known for 259 pages that it's coming.
The book feels, to me, like it was written too soon. In the thick of the whole thing. I don't even mean too soon chronologically, but too soon psychologically. That's the blanket feeling I'm tucking this one in with.
I DID, however, want to talk about the back of this book, the expectations it set up, and how it kind of spoiled the book for me.
I would preface this review with "spoiler alert" except for the fact that the only spoiler in here is one that's on the back of the book.
"The only thing that kept him from the brink: his friendship with a girl named Laura, a classmate-an enigmatic crush- who walked Eric back to "normal." Then, in a tragic twist of fate, Laura became a ghost herself."
This is a prime example of what I like to call the Iron Man Setup.
Most people have seen the movie Iron Man, so I'm not going to explain the whole thing, but as in most super hero movies we go through a painfully slow origin process. Check out most super hero movies. It takes around 45 minutes before the first shield is thrown, web is slung, and flame is on'ed.
In the preview for Iron Man you see Tony Stark emerge from a cave in a primitive version of the Iron Man suit, at which point he promptly starts blowing up terrorists. Rad.
In the movie, Tony Stark is captured and made to work on some weird missile or some bullshit, and the whole time you're supposed to be wondering how he's going to get out of this pickle. EXCEPT THAT YOU SAW IN THE FUCKING PREVIEW THAT HE BUILDS AN IRON MAN SUIT AND BLOWS EVERYONE UP. Not to mention that you are 100% aware that you're seeing Iron Man. It came up in huge letters on the screen, it's printed on your ticket, there is a sign above the theater you entered. We are very prepared to see an Iron Man.
So, if I hadn't seen that preview, and furthermore if I didn't already know that the movie I was watching was Iron Man, this double-cross while he was supposed to be constructing a missile would probably be an awesome reveal. It would be a Welcome to the Matrix moment of pure fanboy glee. But it's not. We already have every expectation that it's coming. In fact, we as the audience know more about it than everyone in the goddamn movie. And two minutes into wondering if he's really making the missile thingy, I'm squirming in my seat and thinking, Jesus Christ, get in the damn Iron Man suit already.
Alright, so the back of this book tells us that this key person dies. So you expect, and and honestly I thought, the book would have a lot more to do with the aftermath of this death than the death itself. At what point does our hero learn about this death? Page 259 of 305. Almost 85% of the way into the book. Moreover, he learns about it in a strange, revelatory sort of way. If the narrator is experiencing this as a surprise, if shock and surprise is part of the emotional equation, I need to experience that shock and surprise on some level too, and that's just not possible for me as I've already known for 259 pages that it's coming.
September 10, 2012
This isn't a bad book, but it's not exactly a good one either. Two parts memoir and one part journalistic investigation of famous haunting sites, it would have been better off had it just stuck with memoir. It's not that I'm not interested in a journalistic investigation of famously "haunted" places, it's just that I'm not sure this book was the right place for it. The memoir parts of the book are much stronger than the ghost-hunting parts.
That said, the book suffered from many instances of seeming unsure how to be. The lengthy subtitle, "A Story of Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to Be Haunted" is case in point. Sure, it's a story about friendship, and it's a story about what it means to be haunted. But it's not a story about 80s rock, and although there is a scrap of paper that gets lost and then found again, the book is no more about that than it's about working at T.J. Maxx, another thing that happens in the course of the story.
The 80s rock mention strikes me as pandering. The author and/or publisher is trying to appeal to fans of books like Rob Sheffield's , and with good reason. They're written by contemporaries with not-altogether dissimilar rock'n'roll experiences and both books are about young love tragically cut short. Yet, many people, myself included, would have been unlikely to pick up Sheffield's book without the draw of reading about underground music in the age of cassette tapes. And it would have been a mistake not to pick it up, because that book is a heartfelt story that has stuck with me for years. By including "80s Rock" in the title of this book, they're hoping people like me will read this one as well. I suppose it worked to an extent, but don't be fooled. Giving Up the Ghost is not nearly up to par with the likes of Love Is a Mix Tape. It's too disjointed and unsure what story it wants to tell.
I think Eric Nuzum just legitimately doesn't know what he wants to say about this topic of his friends who have died and the mental illness he suffered from as a teenager. For this reason, he focuses primarily on the "ghost" story of the book, his "Little Girl" visions. Annoyingly, he always capitalizes any pronouns referring to her from his own perspective: "I envisioned Her standing there behind me," "As long as She remained upstairs, I figured I could deal with it," and so forth. But as ghost stories go, this one is something of a dud. What was more interesting was how troubled of a youth he had in general. I think his visions of this ghost are an important and potentially interesting part of that story, but it is not the story itself. He could have made feeling haunted a vital theme of the story without making it the primary story. And that, I believe, would have made for a more affecting story. Ultimately, since he never can make any real sense of his "ghost" story, it falls flat. It's just a detail of a youth with many interesting details. But it's not really an effective way to discuss the losses he suffered, or the isolation he felt.
That said, the book suffered from many instances of seeming unsure how to be. The lengthy subtitle, "A Story of Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to Be Haunted" is case in point. Sure, it's a story about friendship, and it's a story about what it means to be haunted. But it's not a story about 80s rock, and although there is a scrap of paper that gets lost and then found again, the book is no more about that than it's about working at T.J. Maxx, another thing that happens in the course of the story.
The 80s rock mention strikes me as pandering. The author and/or publisher is trying to appeal to fans of books like Rob Sheffield's , and with good reason. They're written by contemporaries with not-altogether dissimilar rock'n'roll experiences and both books are about young love tragically cut short. Yet, many people, myself included, would have been unlikely to pick up Sheffield's book without the draw of reading about underground music in the age of cassette tapes. And it would have been a mistake not to pick it up, because that book is a heartfelt story that has stuck with me for years. By including "80s Rock" in the title of this book, they're hoping people like me will read this one as well. I suppose it worked to an extent, but don't be fooled. Giving Up the Ghost is not nearly up to par with the likes of Love Is a Mix Tape. It's too disjointed and unsure what story it wants to tell.
I think Eric Nuzum just legitimately doesn't know what he wants to say about this topic of his friends who have died and the mental illness he suffered from as a teenager. For this reason, he focuses primarily on the "ghost" story of the book, his "Little Girl" visions. Annoyingly, he always capitalizes any pronouns referring to her from his own perspective: "I envisioned Her standing there behind me," "As long as She remained upstairs, I figured I could deal with it," and so forth. But as ghost stories go, this one is something of a dud. What was more interesting was how troubled of a youth he had in general. I think his visions of this ghost are an important and potentially interesting part of that story, but it is not the story itself. He could have made feeling haunted a vital theme of the story without making it the primary story. And that, I believe, would have made for a more affecting story. Ultimately, since he never can make any real sense of his "ghost" story, it falls flat. It's just a detail of a youth with many interesting details. But it's not really an effective way to discuss the losses he suffered, or the isolation he felt.
June 12, 2018
I thought I would like this book from the title. 29 pages later Nuzum explains why eating bagels is a bad idea on Clinton Road. I knew I would LOVE this book.
Giving up the Ghost is a fantastic memoir about growing up and finding meaning in stories and memories.
It's written like a braid with memories from Nuzum's past and his present search for ghosts.
It's raw, real, and perfect. Nuzum puts it all in the table from his losses, drugs, alcohol, failures, and confusion. He even includes his time in a psychiatric facility.
The skeptical and sarcastic quips are wonderfully placed to give the reader a minute to breathe before diving into ghost territory both real and emotional. I laughed out loud so many times.
I loved this book more than I thought or expected. Are we haunted or are we doing the haunting? Or are we creating our own ghosts?
It's not a book for everyone. Reviewers mark it middle of the road or less than, but I see the beauty in this story about letting go of the "ghosts" and creating life. Love love love this book. I can't stop loving it.
Giving up the Ghost is a fantastic memoir about growing up and finding meaning in stories and memories.
It's written like a braid with memories from Nuzum's past and his present search for ghosts.
It's raw, real, and perfect. Nuzum puts it all in the table from his losses, drugs, alcohol, failures, and confusion. He even includes his time in a psychiatric facility.
The skeptical and sarcastic quips are wonderfully placed to give the reader a minute to breathe before diving into ghost territory both real and emotional. I laughed out loud so many times.
I loved this book more than I thought or expected. Are we haunted or are we doing the haunting? Or are we creating our own ghosts?
It's not a book for everyone. Reviewers mark it middle of the road or less than, but I see the beauty in this story about letting go of the "ghosts" and creating life. Love love love this book. I can't stop loving it.
August 28, 2013
This book was pretentious, in that it was pretending to be many things it wasn't, or at least it wasn't very good at being all the things it purported to be. If you want a compelling account documenting wrongful incarceration in a mental institution by a brilliant mind, read the genius that is Janet Frame, if you want 80s nostalgia read Nick Hornby, who does it better, if you want ghost stories read M R James. As memoirs go, my friends have lived more interesting lives. Nuzum is a bad writer, he leads you down many different paths and then just leaves you there, or he promises a picnic at the end of each path and gives you a rotten apple. His only talent seems to be making his story sound better in synopsis than it is in full, and getting himself published. I have given it two stars, rather than no stars, as it gave me an insight into how letting the ego of an insular teenage boy run rampant can lead to trouble for parents, and i doubt that was ever his intention.
March 8, 2014
Like every one else, I went into this book thinking it would be one thing and left with something completely different. Do you know how rare it is to find a non-fiction book about mental illness that puts you in their shoes and makes you feel as if it were you experiencing it as if you were there? That opens your eyes to what really goes on in the mind of a teenager with mental issues and how to view it from their perpetive? That inspires you to want to march for the health and progress? This is that book. It also has a kick ass selection of music, some hilarious insights on some well-known "haunted" spots.
Read
August 14, 2012I love reading memoirs, partly because my favorite class in high school was about writing memoirs. While I still don't think I really accomplished the goal of the class (writing an awesome memoir), I did learn quite a bit about the craft of the memoir. To me, a successful memoir is one that is the author's personal story yet other people are able to relate to their own lives, to learn from, to understand, and to take a message away from the story. In this respect, Giving Up the Ghost by Eric Nuzum truly succeeded.
So many of the events and activities that Nuzum wrote about in his book were similar to ones that were in my own life. It's like we almost lived the same life 10 years apart. True, he was more into music, he was more successful at finding drugs and alcohol, and he just lived the same life more emphatically, but I could relate so clearly to what he was describing that I read the book extra slowly - savoring it like one might savor a rich dessert. Not only did we live close to one another, we both attended Kent, we both had somewhat normal lives, and we both took huge spirals into a very dark period of life. And, like Nuzum, I felt the ghosts of my past haunting me. Closed doors never bothered me, but attic doors always did.
Through my read of this book, I felt that it was very powerful, brutally honest, and carried a message that just about anyone could relate to. In fact, I was so pumped up and excited about the book that about halfway through I broke my cardinal book reviewing rule and read a few other reviews online to see how excited everyone else was about the book - I had no doubt that everyone would be excited. I was shocked and surprised to see that the other reviewers didn't like it. I read some that used words like "pathetic" and "sad" when describing Giving Up the Ghost, who couldn't find humor in the book, and who felt uncomfortable just reading it. My bubble deflated. But despite those reviews, I still think that it's a fantastic book - not everyone enjoys brutal honesty or can find humor in dark situations, I suppose.
To read a more in-depth review of the book, . But suffice it to say - I love Giving Up the Ghost by Eric Nuzum.
So many of the events and activities that Nuzum wrote about in his book were similar to ones that were in my own life. It's like we almost lived the same life 10 years apart. True, he was more into music, he was more successful at finding drugs and alcohol, and he just lived the same life more emphatically, but I could relate so clearly to what he was describing that I read the book extra slowly - savoring it like one might savor a rich dessert. Not only did we live close to one another, we both attended Kent, we both had somewhat normal lives, and we both took huge spirals into a very dark period of life. And, like Nuzum, I felt the ghosts of my past haunting me. Closed doors never bothered me, but attic doors always did.
Through my read of this book, I felt that it was very powerful, brutally honest, and carried a message that just about anyone could relate to. In fact, I was so pumped up and excited about the book that about halfway through I broke my cardinal book reviewing rule and read a few other reviews online to see how excited everyone else was about the book - I had no doubt that everyone would be excited. I was shocked and surprised to see that the other reviewers didn't like it. I read some that used words like "pathetic" and "sad" when describing Giving Up the Ghost, who couldn't find humor in the book, and who felt uncomfortable just reading it. My bubble deflated. But despite those reviews, I still think that it's a fantastic book - not everyone enjoys brutal honesty or can find humor in dark situations, I suppose.
To read a more in-depth review of the book, . But suffice it to say - I love Giving Up the Ghost by Eric Nuzum.
June 7, 2013
I selected Eric Nuzum's Giving Up the Ghost to read because it was compared to Rob Sheffield's Love is a Mixtape which I had liked very much.
Yet even though both books deal with death, Giving Up the Ghost hit a little closer to home for me so I couldn't read it in chunks. I had to take it in small bites or I would be overwhelmed with nostalgia laced melancholy.
Although I didn't grow up in Canton Ohio (where the author is from and where much of his memoir is based), I went from teenager to adult in the same time period that Nuzum covers in this book.
First time I put the book down was because I felt like there was no way that the writer could have known so many young people who died young and then I thought about my own life: My best friend died of cancer when we were 19. I left Hawaii for California for a period of 4 years (1986 to 1990) and in that space of time, a chunk of the crowd that I hung out with during my Hula's and Wave club going days at 18 and 19 were gone from AIDS. There was a classmate who committed suicide at college. Another who died in a car accident. Yet another who died of an accidental overdose.
I'd always felt that I was lucky to have gone from teenager to adult in the 80s (and I still do), but reading "Ghost", I also realize that it was a transitional period and one where we lost a lot of people very, very young and there was still a sense that you could disappear if you wanted to.
So Nuzum's memoir of a ghost, mental illness, music and friendship with an enigmatic young woman just really hit me square in places that got a little uncomfortable at times and I had to take breaks.
The story is not told in a linear fashion. Nuzum jumps from present to past and all in the in between without much warning so I had a weird sense of timelessness and I felt like I could open the book on any page and start reading and eventually I'd figure out where I was.
Reading at this leisurely pace, I was leaning towards a 4 until I hit chapter ten. From chapter ten and on, it becomes exquisitely haunting.
Yet even though both books deal with death, Giving Up the Ghost hit a little closer to home for me so I couldn't read it in chunks. I had to take it in small bites or I would be overwhelmed with nostalgia laced melancholy.
Although I didn't grow up in Canton Ohio (where the author is from and where much of his memoir is based), I went from teenager to adult in the same time period that Nuzum covers in this book.
First time I put the book down was because I felt like there was no way that the writer could have known so many young people who died young and then I thought about my own life: My best friend died of cancer when we were 19. I left Hawaii for California for a period of 4 years (1986 to 1990) and in that space of time, a chunk of the crowd that I hung out with during my Hula's and Wave club going days at 18 and 19 were gone from AIDS. There was a classmate who committed suicide at college. Another who died in a car accident. Yet another who died of an accidental overdose.
I'd always felt that I was lucky to have gone from teenager to adult in the 80s (and I still do), but reading "Ghost", I also realize that it was a transitional period and one where we lost a lot of people very, very young and there was still a sense that you could disappear if you wanted to.
So Nuzum's memoir of a ghost, mental illness, music and friendship with an enigmatic young woman just really hit me square in places that got a little uncomfortable at times and I had to take breaks.
The story is not told in a linear fashion. Nuzum jumps from present to past and all in the in between without much warning so I had a weird sense of timelessness and I felt like I could open the book on any page and start reading and eventually I'd figure out where I was.
Reading at this leisurely pace, I was leaning towards a 4 until I hit chapter ten. From chapter ten and on, it becomes exquisitely haunting.
August 24, 2012
When I first saw the eerie cover and read the above description, I assumed this was a novel. It's not; it's a memoir. The instant I realized this was not fiction, the story became all the more compelling to me. A book about being really haunted? YES!
Nuzum neither presumes that ghosts are real or not real, he simply tells his own story with being haunted and how it became a contributing factor in a downward spiral of despair in self-destruction. While a teenager, Nuzum did many things that were unlikeable, and was, as he admits, not a very likeable guy. He drank, did lots of drugs, acted crazy, was rude and mean and occasionally vicious. Some memoir writers might describe these same sorts of events as a way to garner sympathy, or to pawn off and blame their faults on somebody else, or to revel in the freedom or coolness of the act. Nuzem, thankfully, does none of these things. Rather, he states the facts as he remembers them (perhaps not accurately, he notes), while accepting and taking responsibility for his mistakes. He seems to tell the story the way many people tell ghost stories � matter of factly � and perhaps will the aim of exorcizing some of his past ghosts.
As much as the story is about his downward spiral, it is even more so about his rise and the friend who held him up and kept him sane. Laura, who was very much a mystery in his life, unwilling to share much (or any) of her own truths, helped Nuzum keep track of, organize, and make peace with his own sorrows and fears and wobbliness. Their friendship is entertaining and touching to read.
Giving up the Ghost is a well written and compelling read. There's no ultimate resolution, of course, because life doesn't have many ultimate resolutions. Many mysteries stay mysteries, and human beings can't help but be haunted. Tthe ghosts of our past linger, hiding on the other side of the door whether we want them to or not.
Nuzum neither presumes that ghosts are real or not real, he simply tells his own story with being haunted and how it became a contributing factor in a downward spiral of despair in self-destruction. While a teenager, Nuzum did many things that were unlikeable, and was, as he admits, not a very likeable guy. He drank, did lots of drugs, acted crazy, was rude and mean and occasionally vicious. Some memoir writers might describe these same sorts of events as a way to garner sympathy, or to pawn off and blame their faults on somebody else, or to revel in the freedom or coolness of the act. Nuzem, thankfully, does none of these things. Rather, he states the facts as he remembers them (perhaps not accurately, he notes), while accepting and taking responsibility for his mistakes. He seems to tell the story the way many people tell ghost stories � matter of factly � and perhaps will the aim of exorcizing some of his past ghosts.
As much as the story is about his downward spiral, it is even more so about his rise and the friend who held him up and kept him sane. Laura, who was very much a mystery in his life, unwilling to share much (or any) of her own truths, helped Nuzum keep track of, organize, and make peace with his own sorrows and fears and wobbliness. Their friendship is entertaining and touching to read.
Giving up the Ghost is a well written and compelling read. There's no ultimate resolution, of course, because life doesn't have many ultimate resolutions. Many mysteries stay mysteries, and human beings can't help but be haunted. Tthe ghosts of our past linger, hiding on the other side of the door whether we want them to or not.
March 8, 2015
A rough read that took time for me to get through, not because it isn't a good book, because it is, but more so due to the personal points it hit that were hard on me personally. At times, I was so frustrated with things, like knowing who Little Girl was, knowing what the Mystery Poem meant, and understanding Laura more. But, that was the point, right? Sometimes the people who have the biggest impact on our lives are the ones we never seem to know completely, or we lose them far too soon, but they still haunt us just as good music does, and stories, and moments in our lives.
I related so deeply to the music interwoven in this story. I felt compelled to play Music for Airports (Brian Eno) while I read for a good two-thirds of the book. I also felt so connected to the moments surrounding Rocky Horror Picture Show, a time in my life that I don't think could happen now (I agree re: technology and instant accessibility). I can recall vividly those hangouts in late night diners (usually Denny's) after Rocky Horror, and later after clubs, that were far more meaningful than the movie, or the venues, ever could be.
There were heavier things I related to, as well. The time spent in the hospital, and the struggles with coming to terms with loss.
My favorite moments were the non-ghost hunting portions, though at the end I fully appreciated why they were there and could say "oh okay, yeah, we needed to go there". My favorite moments though always involved interactions with Laura, including the searching and conversations after her death. Oh my stars, how I wanted to know more about her, how badly I wanted this to jump from being a memoir and be a novel that could show both person's POV's, but don't I want that in my own life sometimes, too?
I think we all have someone who haunts us that we may not solve, or understand, and maybe in the end that is a case of "oh okay, yeah, we needed to go there".
I related so deeply to the music interwoven in this story. I felt compelled to play Music for Airports (Brian Eno) while I read for a good two-thirds of the book. I also felt so connected to the moments surrounding Rocky Horror Picture Show, a time in my life that I don't think could happen now (I agree re: technology and instant accessibility). I can recall vividly those hangouts in late night diners (usually Denny's) after Rocky Horror, and later after clubs, that were far more meaningful than the movie, or the venues, ever could be.
There were heavier things I related to, as well. The time spent in the hospital, and the struggles with coming to terms with loss.
My favorite moments were the non-ghost hunting portions, though at the end I fully appreciated why they were there and could say "oh okay, yeah, we needed to go there". My favorite moments though always involved interactions with Laura, including the searching and conversations after her death. Oh my stars, how I wanted to know more about her, how badly I wanted this to jump from being a memoir and be a novel that could show both person's POV's, but don't I want that in my own life sometimes, too?
I think we all have someone who haunts us that we may not solve, or understand, and maybe in the end that is a case of "oh okay, yeah, we needed to go there".
January 7, 2019
"I'm not sure what I went into this book expecting it to be but I ended up enjoying it. However, even the subtitle "a story about 80s rock, a lost scrap of paper, and what it means to be haunted" is a bit misleading, like Nuzum himself didn't know what he wanted his memoir to be. There were a few mentions of 80s punk rock but not enough to be considered a main part of the story, something I was disappointed in, wish music played a bigger role. A better subtitle would be something along the lines of, a story about a friendship, being committed, and ghost hunting. But with all that said, I still found this an entertaining and fast read. Nuzum's descriptions of his mental illness and trips to notoriously haunted locales made for interesting reading. The little girl in the blue dress was a common thread throughout the book and provided a bit of mystery. I hate to say it but the friendship between Nuzum and Laura was the least interesting thread of this memoir even though it seemed to be the most important aspect of his story for Eric. I'd be interested in reading more of the ghost adventures. The concept of each person being haunted by the ghosts of people they've encountered is one touched upon throughout the book and really delved into at the end. It's something that made me think and made the book more than a flat memoir. I guess I was initially confused and a little disappointed but despite that there was still enough material that kept me reading thus leading to my 3 star rating."
September 29, 2012
I received a copy of Giving Up the Ghost by Eric Nuzum as an Early Reviewer and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Nuzum's memoir deals with his troubled childhood and adolescence, the Little Girl in the Blue Dress who he thought lived in his attic, and Laura, his best friend he knew next to nothing about. It's a poignant tale, sometimes funny, written from Nuzum's point of view as a fairly successful adult as he tries to figure out his fear of ghosts. He travels to some of the best known haunted places in the U.S.--Clinton Road in northern NJ; the Spiritualist town of Lily Dale, NY, and Mansfield Reformatory in Ohio--trying to discover if the ghost he's been afraid of for years could possibly be real, but as it says on the back cover, "it's only when he digs up the ghosts of his past" that he reaches a some kind of truce with his past and can move on with his life.
I really liked this book. Nuzum did a good job inspiring my interest in his life. I was especially taken with his description of his relationship with the mysterious Laura. To me, she was the real ghost in his story, and I felt a little heartbroken to learn what little Nuzum discovered about her. I also enjoyed his haunted travels--they were a nice hook--and the description of his stay in the mental ward. It bogged down a little for me in the middle, as his mental decline was progressing, but that's my only complaint, and it could have been my mood as I was reading it, more than anything.
I really liked this book. Nuzum did a good job inspiring my interest in his life. I was especially taken with his description of his relationship with the mysterious Laura. To me, she was the real ghost in his story, and I felt a little heartbroken to learn what little Nuzum discovered about her. I also enjoyed his haunted travels--they were a nice hook--and the description of his stay in the mental ward. It bogged down a little for me in the middle, as his mental decline was progressing, but that's my only complaint, and it could have been my mood as I was reading it, more than anything.
March 26, 2017
I picked this up from an end cap display in the library. The title and the subtitle had me hooked: "Giving up the Ghost: A Story about Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to Be Haunted." Sold to the crazy library wanderer on the second floor! At my local library you have to really want the non-fiction section as it requires ascending stairs and passing by he teen section. As a language teacher of adolescents, that bit doesn't deter me as it might other patrons.
Eric Nuzum now ranks among my favorite authors and I've only read one of his books. I listen to NPR and when I read about his connection to public radio I was all the more convinced that I was in the right place. The juxtaposition between "THEN" and "NOW" kept me turning pages. I knew hat he had survived his troubling adolescence because his memoir returned to the present with regularity.
Whether you are a believer in the paranormal, or simply curious about another's trek through the 80s, this book will stir something in you. Maybe it will be memories. Perhaps it will be empathy. Undoubtedly, it will make you think. Thinking... it's highly recommended. So is this memoir.
Eric Nuzum now ranks among my favorite authors and I've only read one of his books. I listen to NPR and when I read about his connection to public radio I was all the more convinced that I was in the right place. The juxtaposition between "THEN" and "NOW" kept me turning pages. I knew hat he had survived his troubling adolescence because his memoir returned to the present with regularity.
Whether you are a believer in the paranormal, or simply curious about another's trek through the 80s, this book will stir something in you. Maybe it will be memories. Perhaps it will be empathy. Undoubtedly, it will make you think. Thinking... it's highly recommended. So is this memoir.
April 15, 2018
Never has a book so made me want to be young again.
October 29, 2012
A seemingly understated work that manages to deliver in a most fulfilling way. In 'Giving Up the Ghost' Nuzum manages to combine the most appealing parts of three very distinct styles. His contrite detailing of a troubled adolescence feels like the musings of Augusten Burroughs, while his recantations of traveling to supposedly haunted places to face his spectral fears are comparative to the work of Sarah Vowell. Finally, Nuzum is able to legitimize a narrative whereby the reader knows who is dead before the story begins in a much more effective way than that attempted by 'The Lovely Bones'. Most notably by sidestepping the terrible plot turns that have the deceased interacting with the living through contrived Demi-Swazye-Goldberg-like three ways and, of course, by being a true story. His honesty...with his past, about the places he travels, and ultimately with himself is what makes you root for his sought after closure.
May 28, 2019
3.5/5 stars
This is probably the most unusual memoir I’ve ever read. It’s also one of the most poignant. Eric Nuzum tackles a topic that many people have written about but not many have fully grasped: being haunted. And that’s exactly what Giving up the Ghost is about. It’s about how people can be haunted by ghosts that aren’t things that go bump in the night. We can be haunted by people, memories, our own illnesses, and our experiences. Nuzum takes the reader on a journey through his experience of being haunted by multiple things throughout his life, and it’s breathtaking. Also potentially triggering for anyone struggling with mental illness because boy, does it hit some heavy stuff.
I definitely recommend this book. For anyone who knows what it’s like to be haunted, this is for you.
This is probably the most unusual memoir I’ve ever read. It’s also one of the most poignant. Eric Nuzum tackles a topic that many people have written about but not many have fully grasped: being haunted. And that’s exactly what Giving up the Ghost is about. It’s about how people can be haunted by ghosts that aren’t things that go bump in the night. We can be haunted by people, memories, our own illnesses, and our experiences. Nuzum takes the reader on a journey through his experience of being haunted by multiple things throughout his life, and it’s breathtaking. Also potentially triggering for anyone struggling with mental illness because boy, does it hit some heavy stuff.
I definitely recommend this book. For anyone who knows what it’s like to be haunted, this is for you.
December 15, 2014
I didn't actually pay attention to what this book was when I picked it up on a friend's recommendation, so I was 2/3 of the way through before I realized it was a memoir and not fiction.
Most of the book reads like a novel and I found it a very engaging, quick read. It's a combination of a coming-of-age story and an exploration of haunted places, with ghosts as the common theme tying everything together.
Nuzum can't quite keep the fiction feeling up through the end, but since it's a memoir I will cut him some slack. Personally I think the book could have ended about 20 or so pages sooner and not lost anything.
Most of the book reads like a novel and I found it a very engaging, quick read. It's a combination of a coming-of-age story and an exploration of haunted places, with ghosts as the common theme tying everything together.
Nuzum can't quite keep the fiction feeling up through the end, but since it's a memoir I will cut him some slack. Personally I think the book could have ended about 20 or so pages sooner and not lost anything.
October 31, 2012
I was put off by the misplaced modifier in the 2nd sentence of the book and it didn't get much better from there. This book didn't go anywhere or tell me anything. There was no back story to explain any of the incidents that the author related in the book. There was no conclusion to wrap it up. It was just a boring snapshot in time of the author's teenage years and an attempt to tie it to a time in his adult life.
April 11, 2017
I really loved this book. Eric has a way of going into depth of his personal trauma and encounters with vivid detail. You can see his angry outbursts in your mind and can find them funny or depressing. Anyone that has had a troubled past or an affiliation with substance abuse will appreciate this story. This depressing yet romantic love hate relationship with himself. The ghost aspect is riveting and alarming at times. Sometimes enough to keep you up with your own thoughts.
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