Sometimes the only way to get through the daily battle between that heinous cackling wizard of fate and that vengeful witch of emotional destruction is to put your head down and just barrel through it.

Actress/author/all-around-adventuress Heather Donahue pretty much does just that as, sharply, described in her illuminating memoir growgirl. Donahue, whose terror stained credits include such fun, cheesy efforts as Manticore and The Morgue, of course, is best known for her incisive work in The Blair Witch Project. Here, though, she describes her efforts to create a life for herself after her career in Hollywood stops holding any fruitful fascination for her.

The answer to her quest is probably a bit less typical than you might imagine. Retiring to a small West Coast community, Donahue begins a career farming medical marijuana. With self deprecation and tart humor, she describes her year-long adventure in a seemingly harmonious community that, ultimately, has as many double standards as any societal unit.

Winningly, Donahue is as tough on herself as any of the people she encounters on her journey. From physical comedy to self aware acknowledgements of her propensity to bang when knocking softly would suffice, she writes with humbling candor. Her on-the-target observations about the community’s inability to escape from basic patriarchal grandstanding are leavened with detailed descriptions of those masculine elders’ honest heartaches and profound commitments, as well.

Best of all, for those who aware of their own uncertain stumbling through life, Donahue’s narration provides plenty of relatability. But, we can only hope that our experiences contain half of the honest, poetic beauty that Donahue describes so potently in growgirl.

PS: For dog lovers, Donahue’s loving descriptions of her bounding pup, Vito, make him one of the most fascinating literary characters in recent years.

You can purchase growgirl at Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/k434ttr and you can keep up-to-date with Donahue at http://www.heatherdonahue.com, as well.

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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