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bookishmillennial's review against another edition
It is fascinating to me to read an author's backlist titles over a decade ago, recognizing how vastly the zeitgeist has changed. This book was published in 2013, and very much reads as a 2013 book - I know there's a more eloquent way to say that, but oh well. I am but a peasant.
Anyway, there's a few problematic elements in this that were largely unchallenged in mass media and cultural attitudes in 2013, like assuming your East Asian nail technicians are talking shit about you in their native language, and a bit of ableist language that we don't condone anymore.
Besides this, I did appreciate the vulgar, raw honesty with which Samantha Irby shares her lived experience of having Crohn's Disease and how it can get ugly sometimes. I audibly snickered or heartily laughed multiple times throughout the audiobook (such as the time she was discussing how no one is jealous of you and your dusty, crusty boyfriend hahaha). I also thought the part where she discussed how much money she spent in two weeks was relatable, because that's "treat culture" in a nutshell and still rings true today. Life is expensive and enjoying it is even moreso.
Anyway, I'll continue to read the rest of her essay collections in pub order, and hopefully, they are a bit more with the times as I get through the more recent ones!
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual content, Excrement, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
kylieqrada's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Excrement, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia and Mental illness
taylormoore's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia and Sexual content
jmarquette's review against another edition
Graphic: Excrement
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
mdavis26's review against another edition
3.75
Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
ladythana's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
sasstronaut's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Sexual content, Excrement, Medical content, and Death of parent
zarap's review against another edition
Graphic: Fatphobia, Excrement, and Grief
skudiklier's review against another edition
3.25
But I liked it less and less the longer it went on. A lot of the humor felt repetitive--like, I can only read so much about making fun of the all the men she's been with before I get tired of it. By the end I was pretty uninterested and just waiting for it to be over.
I did read the first edition, and she re-ordered the essays for the later editions. Maybe the new order would have kept my interest more. But idk, I just felt like some of the essays were doing/saying the same things as previous ones, and it wasn't funny enough for that to be worth it.
Also there were some things that have not aged well--lots of fatphobia and internalized fatphobia, as well as internalized sexism. Also some things about the environment that I don't feel like she would say ten years later--at least, I hope not.
Anyway I'm giving this four stars because I did like it for a while, and I'm trying not to let my "meh" feelings at the end change my whole thoughts on the book. I don't think I'd recommend it, but maybe I'd try reading some of her later books.
Update: I changed this to 3.25 stars. I was trying to not let the parts I didn't like affect my rating too much, but the more time passes the less I think I'd recommend this. I did like a couple essays and I didn't hate this book or anything, but I no longer think I'd try reading some of her later books even. Just not for me.
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Fatphobia, Sexism, Excrement, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Sexual harassment
graphic: parentification, diet culture, internalized fatphobia, internalized sexismabbie_'s review against another edition
3.25
I know Irby also later came out as bisexual, and I'm not sure where she was in her journey when she wrote this, but there's some talk of wanting to 'decide to like women from now on' after bad experiences with men, which didn't sit right with me. Obviously now I know Irby is actually bisexual, but from what I can gather in this collection, she was still identifying (publicly) as straight. Hopefully the whole rhetoric of 'choosing to like women because men are trash' thing is also something we've left behind in 2013, and obviously Irby came to terms with her sexuality later on which is great!
But overall, a good collection that made me exhale through my nose many times and even laugh out loud once or twice! Will definitely read her later collections too.
Graphic: Chronic illness and Excrement