Combat Love: A Story of Leaving, Longing, and Searching for Home

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 222 ratings

Price: 15.3

Last update: 12-08-2024


About this item

CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota's memoir Combat Love is her story of growing up longing for stability and attachment as the foundation of her family crumbled. Set on the Jersey Shore in the free-range 1980s, Camerota finds the belonging she craves courtesy of a local punk rock band named Shrapnel and their diehard fans. Combat Love chronicles her near-misses and misadventures at clubs like CBGB and Max's Kansas City, coupled with the sex, drugs, and punk rock of 1980s New Jersey. By the time she leaves home at sixteen, it feels like home had left her long ago.

Combat Love is also the story of two women, mother and daughter, trying to forge their own paths and independence, and find their own happiness, success, and wholeness. Camerota's story searches for the line between shelter and risk, nurture and neglect, parenting and personal freedom. What are we willing to sacrifice for self-actualization and happiness? What if the answer is your mother, or your daughter?

The two-time Emmy-award-winning Camerota retraces her steps down an often gritty path toward her dream of becoming a journalist. At times heartbreaking and pulse-pounding, Combat Love is an inspiration for anyone who's ever searched for that elusive place called home.


Top reviews from the United States

DMC
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2024
Well written and entertaining account of NJ teenage years and coming of age through constant obstacles. Funny and poignant, highly recommend
Beckaroni
5.0 out of 5 stars Who would have known that a beloved American TV anchor is a closet punk rocker?
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2024
Alisyn Camerota's memoir is an absolute delight—a vibrant tapestry of courage, vulnerability, wit, and warmth that captivated me from start to finish! With her expressive clarity, Alisyn invites us into her world, sharing the trials and triumphs of her adolescence with genuine charm. I was particularly enamored by her tales of the iconic New York/New Jersey punk scene of the late '70s and early '80s and the daring escapades she undertook to sneak into legendary venues like CBGB as a spirited underage teen. While the book had me on the edge of my seat with its heartrending moments, I found myself dreading the final pages, wishing her captivating journey could continue indefinitely.
Jae Clark
4.0 out of 5 stars A mixed style of engagement.
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
A yoyo type of story. The last 1/3 is engaging.
Paul M. Sparrow
5.0 out of 5 stars A poignant memoir
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2024
A great memoir walks a fine line between horror and humor, painful truths and partial truths, love and loss, joy and forgiveness. Combat Love does all that with a subtle hint of romance novel thrown in. Full disclosure I know Alisyn from her days as a reporter for "America's Most Wanted" when I was the show producer. This book captures her voice exactly as I remember it, although she never shared the painful memories of her youth. Her biting humor and adventurous personality come through accurately. She captures the time and place (places?) of her coming of age, and her search for home and love. Her descriptions of the punk rock scene, one I was very familiar with, capture the energy, smell, and deadly fatalism that was at its core. A powerful read, well worth your time.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An Addictive Recount of DIscovery, Perseverance, and Achievement
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024
Having recently learned of this book, authored by an award winning journalist who grew up in '80's Shrewsbury, and me, having grown up in '70's Rumson, I was anxious to read it. Once I started, I can state that this is a book that I could not put down. Reading about all of the familiar, local places that Alisyn frequented growing up, like the bars of Sea Bright (where I met my future wife) it was so comforting to reflect on those times. Her beautiful writing style, with such carefully crafted prose, made this a book that I could not wait to finish, and yet did not want it to end. Her story is so very compelling. I am still awed by her description of family turmoil, challenges faced, determination, and finally achievement. Highest recommendation!!!

David Teeter
Angie
5.0 out of 5 stars POWERFUL and Endearing
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
First of all, I love Alisyn Camerota. She’s an incredible journalist, reporter and TV news broadcaster. You stop and listen when she speaks. So when she told the world she’d written a book titled “Combat Love” I knew I had to read it. Her words on the book “A Story of Leaving, Longing and Searching for Home.” I thought of myself. Those words grabbed me. I grew up in the same era with some of the same music.
Music was an escape when I got older and I bet most people can relate their own memories to music.
She was so brave and smart and VERY daring! She writes with passion, determination and NEVER stops until she gets what she wants. It’s brutal honesty wrapped in compassion. I envy her relationship with her mother. But, it wasn’t easy getting there. Plus she had a unique bond from childhood. Sometimes that bond is completely out of reach.
I’d give her book 10 stars!! You will love it and find yourself in her words.
Don Heavener
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story - beautifully written
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2024
Thank you for sharing your story. Loved it. A story about the struggles of being a teen raised by a single mother. Very honest and well written.
John H. McCammon
5.0 out of 5 stars Read to the end!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2024
Love Alison as a reporter! Could see her perky personality in this book. I am astonished at her teenage years. She sure came through as an inspiration to many. I recommend this book to any of Alison’s fan club!

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