This coming-of-age memoir follows Andy (Ann) Corren and his relationship with his mother, Renay, and the rest of his family. While Andy loves his mother, there are times when he doesn't like her, just like anyone else. It takes her death and his sweet eulogy to announce what she really meant to Andy. The bad and how Renay squeezed those lemons that life handed to her into lemonade.

Renay's larger-than-life persona shines as Andy shares a wonderful tale of traveling all over the USA and even to Japan. Everyone in his family has a nickname, except for his beloved mother, whom he adores and simply calls Renay. This memoir celebrates Renay's legacy: funny, bowling alley queen, and adversary for the Judith Krantz novels, and most of all, mother to Ann and his motley crew he calls his brothers. She will always be his Queen.

My favorite chapter in the book is, “The All Girl Gang.” May we all have one.

I thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Andy Corren's mom died. It was very sad, but Corren decided to turn her obituary into a send-up to an irreverent and non-conventional mother. The obit caught fire and now we have Corren's memoir about his family in Dirtbag Queen. It says it is about his mother but it is really about his whole family.

There are some solid laughs in Corren's book and his love of his family shines through. While there is a ton of mocking of everyone (including himself), Corren never veers into meanness even when discussing family members he might not be talking to currently. As a love letter to his family, it succeeds.

As a book, I was a bit letdown, unfortunately. Corren has a habit of starting each chapter with something outlandish and then jumping back to the beginning of the episode. It gets overused as does Corren's comedy. While very funny in parts, I felt like the comedic aspects of the book kept intruding on the sincerity. It is the equivalent of a movie which has a death scene that is punctuated with a joke. Yes, the joke may be funny but let other emotions have their moment. The final chapter is a perfect encapsulation of what the book could have been. Corren tells the story of his mother's final days. The sad moments are given some pathos and time for the reader to really feel them. It is more linear than other chapters even if it still starts off with the story telling mechanic I mention above. It is by far the longest chapter and I wish the whole book was like it.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing.)

Fun and funny! I wasn’t sure that an obituary would be enough for a whole book, but it definitely was! I loved reading about Renay and really wish I could have met her. I feel we could have done a spa day together.

This was well written and knew when to pull the heartstrings or make you laugh.

Definitely recommend!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

A unique memoir and tribute to the matriarch of a very unique family. Not exactly what I was expecting but entertaining. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea.

Personal, hilarious, timely, Corren bring people to life and gives us a reason to love them. People I never met become by friends.