Audio book length: 9 hrs 17 mins
Rating: 4 stars
#CBR11 Bingo: The Collection
Official book description:
Sometimes you just have to laugh, even when life is a dumpster fire. With We Are Never Meeting in Real Life., "bitches gotta eat" blogger and comedian Samantha Irby turns the serio-comic essay into an art form. Whether talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making "adult" budgets, explaining why she should be the new Bachelorette--she's "35-ish, but could easily pass for 60-something"--detailing a disastrous pilgrimage-slash-romantic-vacation to Nashville to scatter her estranged father's ashes, sharing awkward sexual encounters, or dispensing advice on how to navigate friendships with former drinking buddies who are now suburban moms--hang in there for the Costco loot--she's as deft at poking fun at the ghosts of her past self as she is at capturing powerful emotional truths.
Things I knew about Samantha Irby before reading this book:
- Literally NOTHING.
Things I now know about Samantha Irby, having finished her book (in audio, she reads it herself):
- Her narration is not as good as Jenny Lawson's, but she's pretty good at it anyway.
- She's black, queer and describes herself as fat
- She has a number of medical issues that, among other things, make it impossible for her to have children
- Even if she could have children, she wouldn't want them anyway
- She grew up in Chicago and lived there for much of her life
- Her childhood was really quite awful (poverty, abuse, drunken, dead beat dad)
- Scattering her father's ashes on a road trip to Nashville did NOT go as planned
- She doesn't know how to make a budget and often spends money irresponsibly
- She worked as a receptionist at an animal hospital for more than 11 years
- She's convinced me that I never want to be the receptionist at an animal hospital
- She's bisexual, and has been in serious relationships with both men and women
- She (as of the writing of this book) now seems to live somewhere rural with her wife and said wife's children from a previous relationship
- She's very funny, and seems to not give many f*cks about anything much at all
- I should probably check out some more of her stuff.
If I knew nothing about Samantha Irby, why did I decide to read this book? This year, despite seeming to struggle to read even half as much as in previous years, I am taking part in a large number of reading challenges (I may have a serious reading challenge addiction), including the "Diversify Your Reading" challenge, where each month is dedicated to a specific genre. This month, it's humour, and since I had seen this book recommended by several Cannonballers in the past, and Jenny Lawson also speaks highly of it, it seemed like a good choice. That it also fits into the "Collection" square for Bingo is an additional bonus.
I like a good, clever internet blogger and anyone who appeals to a number of Cannonballers and the amazing Ms. Lawson is probably worth some more of my time. This was a fun, quick read and can be recommended to others who are looking for a non-fiction collection for the Bingo.
Judging a book by its cover: The book has an eye-catching bright yellow background and a scruffy-looking kitten that seems to be complaining about something. I'm assuming this is supposed to be Helen Keller, Samantha Irby's mean and dysfunctional cat, who she talks about at some length in the book. Bright colours and a cute animal is more than enough to get a person to pick up a book, so it's not a bad choice.
Crossposted on Cannonball Read.
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