Reviews with content warning for Racism - Black Friend: Essays

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Black Friend: Essays by Ziwe

18 reviews

abbyschafer's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.5

Chuckled a lot and learned a little too!

I do wish this book had taught me more; but (not to toot my own horn) I think that I probably have a more comprehensive reading history than Ziwe’s target audience. ((If you disagree, please feel free to go through my read books list and lmk where I have holes in my self-education!! I would actually really appreciate it))

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clovetra's review

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funny informative inspiring relaxing medium-paced

4.0

wow. that was incredible.

the way ziwe mixes the comedic with the incredibly poignant and serious actually has me in awe. from going to talking about she is afraid for her life in an airbnb to talking about her wikifeet score was magnificent. i don’t think i’ve seen someone mix comedy and seriousness this masterfully in my reading journey.

also, as a white person, i did learn a lot from this. obviously i’m not a mind reader, but learning that some things may be seen as microaggressive that never even crossed my mind now do. like the entire essay about “how many black friends do you have?” was something i needed to read. i really quite enjoyed that essay, it’s probably one of my favourites.

i also loved how ziwe tackles the intersectionality between womanhood and being black. obviously i have no fucking clue what that is like, and i know it does exist, but i’ve never actually heard a black woman explain their thoughts surrounding this to me. granted it’s never really come up in conversation, but i’ve also never asked. this had me reflecting on a lot of the behaviours i’ve thought were me being an ally, but were not really helping anyone.

i will say though. the fucking footnotes became the bane of my existence. and that is ENTIRELY the reason why this isn’t a 5-star.

yes i know ziwe explains the footnotes. and at first i found them charming! quirky! unique! but then they would span over 3-5 pages, and go on insane tangents, then i’d come back to the original essay and have forgotten what i’ve just read. the tangents are cute it theory, but some of them needed to be cut down for me to have not been annoyed at this book. like i was flipping back and forth between pages like my life depended on it. for some things i almost wish instead she just used brackets, but alas i am not ziwe

anyways she gobbled the fuck out of this book go ziwe

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sydapel's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

why are you reading my dumb review when you could be reading this book instead. no one's talking about this book (except my best friend who was 100% correct to tell me to drop everything and read it) and thats criminal!

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ukponge's review against another edition

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challenging funny hopeful fast-paced

4.5

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obsetress's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.5

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danimcthomas's review

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challenging funny medium-paced

4.25

So smart, so funny, so challenging.

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dillsbookdiary's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

love love love love. Ziwe is so funny and nails it in every single one of these essays. it felt like talking to a friend.

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mollyate's review against another edition

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funny reflective fast-paced

4.75

witty, smart, serving in all the ways we know Ziwe is a master of
sometimes the audio sounded a little warped
my fav essay was probs the last one of My Body of Work

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