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With or Without You by Domenica Ruta

With or Without You

A Memoir

by Domenica Ruta

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Readers' Rating (37):
  • Published:
  • Feb 2013, 224 pages
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There are currently 37 reader reviews for With or Without You
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Christine B. (st. paul, MN)

With or Without You
I enjoyed this memoir, but of all that I have read I would place this in the middle. Domenica's accounting of her childhood and abuse in some places is left somewhat ambiguous. She also jumps around a lot from one part of her life to another without logical transition. I did like her writing style and find it remarkable that she conquered her childhood demons.
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Beverly D. (Palm Harbor, FL)

ANOTHER addiction memoir....
I liked this memoir because of the writing, not the story so I gave it 3 instead of a two. Guess there has been one too many addiction memoirs out there and I don't need to read another one where a gifted kid overcame her surroundings. The writing, however, is clean and precise... sometimes witty and incisive; very readable. I did have an issue with the non-chronological sequences of her story. I will be looking forward to her next effort.
Vicki O. (Boston, MA)

Without Me......
If you enjoy reading memoirs about dysfunctional families, then this book is for you. The author is both eloquent and honest. Most readers are sure to empathize with the story she weaves about her childhood and toxic relationship with her mother. I appreciate the author's struggle, but the book just didn't grab me.
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Suzanne G. (Tucson, AZ)

With or Without You
This memoir left me with an uneasy feeling. It is hard to believe that anyone so strung out, so damaged, so low a self-esteem could write such a tantalizing story, yet alone remember anything about her past 30 years. How in heaven's name was she able to advance herself to the educational level she did, with so much absence that comes with both her real life, and her mind-altering life? I will have to say I liked her style of writing, her words and her strength.
Bea C. (Liberty Lake, WA)

White Trash Opera
Sometimes it's hard to read about the life of a woman who was raised by an unfit mother. This book has chapter after chapter of the author relating repulsive things her mother said and did, like leaving her 10 year old daughter with a known pedophile, wanting her teenaged daughter to get pregnant and starting her daughter out on alcohol and snorting Oxycontin. Her mother is the kind of person I don't want to be around, and spending a whole book reading about her was almost more than I could take. Maybe the author wanted us to understand why she is "through" with her mother. Don't worry. I forgive the author.more

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