Review: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

Courtesy of  LA Times.com

Title: A Stolen Life
Author: Jaycee Dugard
ISBN: 1451629184

Pages: 288
Time It Took for Me to Read: less than 24 hours

You know I like a book when I read it quickly. There are so many other distractions in my life (if you own an iPhone, you understand) and a book that inspires me to sit down and read…well, that is an enthralling book.

This was a surprising read for me but not surprising at the same time. I love a good crime memoir but I had slightly low hopes for this one. First off, this poor girl (now a woman) has a fifth-grade education. Second, there is a high probability that this was ghost-written. I am not against ghost-written books but my limited experience with them has not been good. For the most part, they suck.

However, Jaycee Dugard’s experience trumps any lack of writing ability. Dugard was famously taken from South Lake Tahoe in 1991. She endured eighteen years of captivity in the hands of her captor, a deranged, delusional convicted sex offender. She was found after a pair of Berkeley campus officers noticed something odd and acted on their female intuition and instincts.

Her perspective is captivating and explains how someone could be bound like emotional handcuffs, instead of physical ones. A good book is not always the most entertaining but also makes you ask yourself the hard questions. Jaycee was positive in even the worst of circumstances and focused on what she has rather than what she has lost out on. I am blessed and Jaycee probably would’ve preferred my life to hers. However, I complain a lot more than she was allowed to. She was thankful for the roof over her head and food to eat and I stress about stupid things. Her story created an appreciation of my own life in me.

While this will never win a Pultizer, it served the purpose she had for this book. She wrote it as part of her therapy and as a way for her kidnapper, Phillip Garrido, to not longer hold any power. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would and gained a little fragment of a life lesson. Bravo, Jaycee. Bravo.

Grade: A