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erebus53's review against another edition
5.0
Nanette and the story of the creation thereof, is an exercise (exorcise) in trauma, in violence and exclusion meted out upon a Neurodivergent (in her case Autistic ADHD) lesbian woman from Tasmania (in Australia). There is profanity and no holds barred descriptions of medicalised womanhood, sexual assault, rape, bad dad jokes, and physical violence. The whole thing is designed to be in your face, because too may people just don't engage with the things that happen to you if you are underprivileged.
As a result this book is full of jabs at cis-het-white-men.. but that is because it's less problematic to "punch up" than down. Gadsby is deliberately seeking to subvert the form of comedy, to parody the man-and-the-mic standup look, and to kick the audience in the gut with a bit of a wakeup call.
Yes of course I am biased. I'm also a vagina wielding Autistic f*** up. I know how it is. Life doesn't ever really stop breaking you, but you do tend to learn survival skills along the way. I own my privilege.. there are plenty of things that I have going for me that mean that people take me seriously. I'm not brown, I spell conventionally.. I can define conventionally.. my parents were both together in their own home before my mother died and I inherited enough to buy my own mortgage (lucky me!) So yes, I am biased in my opinion of this book, but I like to think that it's because I am the target audience. I see my like, in Hannah Gadsby. She's about my age, also brought up in the Antipodes, and she wrote this book for the brethren and sistren who have also dealt with being othered for their sex, gender, presentation, sexual orientation, neurotype, sensitivities, and benign differences.
Bloody good book.
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
sarahelem's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Excrement, Medical trauma, Abortion, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
beccaruthe's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Blood, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War