Official Review: "Other" by Cindy Campopiano

[Bookworm0266]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Other" by Cindy Campopiano.]

This book was written by Cindy Campopiano, who opens the book in a first person narration of an early childhood experience she had at a carnival. The experience foreshadows an awakening of a desire to see and explore the world around her. The book then fast-forwards to detail her experience traveling to San Francisco from Japan. The author details some hardships experienced in San Francisco and the culture that was so different from what she had ever known. The landlord has a son, who she learns about and then encounters later on.

As part of her adjustment, Cindy takes a temporary job at an English speaking school where she is able to interact with other foreigners. She finds that she shares some mutual interest with one of the students, and the two are able to form a friendship. The friendship does not last very long, and Cindy is left isolated and alone. Cindy tries to find some new happiness by visiting Paris, but when she returns to America not much has changed. Eventually, she turns to fantasies in her head to fill the emptiness inside her after such blissful travels.

The reader then learns more about Cindy’s childhood and along with her earliest memory as a kid in New Jersey with an alcoholic father. Her father’s regular verbal and emotional abuse manages to chip away at the ideal family she describes and dreams of having. Her family has a history of drug and alcohol addiction, which she details in the midst of a family discussion about stopping her father’s addiction. The war that her father leaves in his wake is detailed by Cindy’s attempts to ignore the bad parts of her home life, which she is desperate to escape by focusing on her favorite memories as well as those of her mother. She details the circumstances that led to her parents marrying, which was when her father first became an alcoholic.

Eventually, she and her brother were born. Cindy goes on to chronicle some of her experiences growing up, all of which have been dampened by her father’s alcoholism. At home, she is constantly on edge as her father directs his abuse to everyone, especially her mother. At school, Cindy is able to come out of her shell for a bit as she finds a relief away from home. Her school friend Maureen invites Cindy to her home, where she finds protection and a world different than the one she knows at home. Her attempts to try and be normal just can’t seem to make up for her instable home life though. Her father’s alcohol leads to a few drunk driving arrest as well as outstanding debts that force the family to relocate to San Francisco. Her dad attempts to sober up without success and he continues his addiction, and the isolation between all family members increases further. Cindy escapes through a world of books while her mother does the same at work.

The family is plagued by their finances and her mother struggles to keep the family afloat. Cindy goes through adolescence where she is raped by her school crush. She tries LSD with friends. At 16, her parents thrust her into the adult world where she is forced to live and work on her own. Life takes its course, but Cindy continues her love of travel by taking odd jobs. The book ends with Cindy finding herself at peace with everything she has been through. She finally accepts herself. Overall, I would rate this book 3 out of 4. I really enjoyed the writing style.

[Misaela]

This looks like an interesting read. Do you know in which time the story was written? What you described here seems like maybe in the 60s?

I would like to know more your opinion on the book, instead of a summary of everything that happened. Did you get caught up in the story? Was it believable? Why would you recommend me reading it?