Review of "The Rules Do Not Apply" by Ariel Levy

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I suppose I didn't have enough background information about the author, Ariel Levy, before reading this memoir because I didn't feel that it was relatable enough for me to get enough out of reading it. In this memoir, Levy divulges the details of the dissolution of her marriage and the horrible circumstances that led to her losing her son before he was even named. This book could've been horribly depressing and honestly at times, it was awfully close to being so. Levy spends a lot of time discussing how she copes with these "negative" events in her life. She goes into how she moves forward after what was essentially divorce, perhaps more accurately "conscious uncoupling" as Gwnyth Paltrow might say. My favorite quote from this memoir though was from an interview Levy conducted with Maureen Dowd: “I asked [Dowd] if she'd ever wanted children. She told me, "Everybody doesn't get everything." It sounded depressing to me at the time, a statement of defeat. Now admitting it seems like the obvious and essential work of growing up. Everybody doesn't get everything: as natural and unavoidable as mortality.” I would recommend this memoir to someone who has/had a partner with alcoholism or someone suffering the loss of a child. While the whole memoir may not apply to these people, they will get something out of reading it.

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