Reviews with content warning for Racism - Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, and Advice for Living Your Best Life

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, and Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

24 reviews

aliteraryescape's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced

4.0

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craftyfairy's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

2.0

Part of this is the fact that I'm not a big enjoyer of 'crass' comedy. I kind of just feel like piss/shit/cum/vomit comedy is overdone and there's not a lot that a comedian can do to make the genre fresh for me.
However, what made the book difficult to read was Wong's habit of repeating low-hanging jokes. She criticizes male comedians and wannabe-comedians for reusing other people's jokes and passing it off as their own, yet she makes dozens of cheap jokes about homeless people, addiction and drug users to name a few groups. She also makes a large number of fat-phobic jokes only to reveal close to the end (and very casually) that she has had experience with anorexia.
I understand that Wong is crafting a brand of comedy where she is bucking stereotypes of Asian women by making use of shock value, I just don't like it.

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chaotic_tumbleweed's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

I thought it was a good book. Books are a different medium than stand up and there were times where Ali struggled with the different medium. It was an enjoyable read.

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koreanlinda's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

3.75

I started this audiobook on a high note after watching Netflix series Beef. I was impressed by Ali Wong's storytelling and acting skills in the show. The audiobook is read by Ali Wong herself, and her reading is full of her characters.

Sharing of her personal life stories with sarcasm and punchlines did not last the whole book. By the end, I was tired of her close-to-yelling and extreme self deprecation even though I listened to is on many separate sittings with plenty of breaks in-between.

Unfortunately I could not help but judge Ali Wong's character as well. All the confession of her mistakes made her look like a very selfish person because those mistakes hurt and damage others so much. In my eyes, they were not funny.

One more thing that bothered me was the underlying hetero-normativity and traditional ideas of women's happy life in a family with children. I don't remember the details. If you are a fan of hers, I recommend giving a listen. It might be more enjoyable to cherry-pick chapters that interest you more, otherwise, it might feel like a long story to listen to.

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mattyvreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.5

This is a great book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was not quite as poignant or thought-provoking as other memoirs that I have read this year, but it didn’t feel like it had to be. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which I really appreciated.

It was whimsical, hilarious, and absolutely delightful. It provides great advice aimed at young girls, but it is just as helpful for any children, regardless of gender. Adults, too!

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