Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Dec 2005
320 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
Haven Kimmel invites us to rejoin the quirky and hilarious Jarvis family saga (first seen in A Girl Named Zippy). Zippy is growing up and struggling with both her hair and her distaste for shoes. But this memoir strikes a deeper and more emotional chord, as now Kimmel shines the spotlight on her remarkable mother, Delonda. Courageous and steadfast, Delonda finally realized that she could change her life, and she got up off the funky couch in the den, bought a beat-up flower power VW bug (and then learned to drive it), and went back to school, which gave her the chance to gain both financial independence and, at long last, self-respect.
'She draws readers in with her easygoing manner and ability to entertain, but surprises with a bittersweet paean to childhood and an arresting account of a family's disintegration.' - PW.
'If you took the complete works of E. B. White and put them in a blender with the essays of David Sedaris, you might end up with a delicious concoction close to the hilarious, irrepressible charm that is Haven Kimmel.' - Alison Smith, author.
This information about She Got up off the Couch was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Haven Kimmel was born in New Castle, Indiana, and was raised in Mooreland, Indiana, the focus of her bestselling memoir, A Girl Named Zippy. She is the other of four other novels, a second memoir and two children’s books.
Kimmel earned her undergraduate degree in English and creative writing from Ball Sate University and attended North Carolina State University as well as the seminary at the Earlham School of Religion. She lives in Durham, North Carolina.
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