User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
3 1/2 stars. I did enjoy this one quite a bit. Lindy West is such a funny, insightful person and I literally laughed out loud a good few times while reading this. And, to be honest, it doesn't hurt that I agree with 90% of what she says.
But maybe that's a bit of the problem? I felt like this book didn't really say anything new, break any new ground. It's a book that preaches directly to the choir of liberal readers like myself who nod along to the same ideas we've been reading and listening to for at least the last four years. West covers Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo, Donald Trump, climate change, misogyny, white nationalism, body positivity, abortion... and it felt like a regurgitation of various arguments I've already read.
Not just in general, too, but actually from West herself. She said some of the same things in her memoir, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, and the abortion chapter basically goes over how she started the #ShoutYourAbortion hashtag and the plot of the pilot episode of the Hulu adaptation of Shrill.
The few new additions West brings to the table I found mixed. The Goop chapter was funny because rich white people "detoxifying" themselves generally is quite funny. I don't know if I am just too young to "get" the Adam Sandler critique - West spends a whole chapter deconstructing the plots of his movies - but I wanted to skim that part. And I know this is sacrilege to some, but I was a serious child and never liked
South Park so the revelation that the creators are diehard Republicans didn't move me like I think it was supposed to.
When other kids were watching
South Park, I was watching
Dirty Dancing (bad for my romantic expectations; great for my taste in music IMO) so I did fully relate to Penny being the first abortion I ever saw on screen. Thinking about it, I don't know how I'm not more traumatized.
One of the more interesting chapters really put something into perspective and it is...
chilling. West discusses how people are obsessed with Ted Bundy and his "charm", his "charisma", the "waste of [his] life". He could brutally murder all those women and still the judge who sentenced him clearly wanted to take him for a beer. And yet women like Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren are scrutinised for their
likability... are they too cold? Too hysterical? Too damn unlikable? It would be funny if it wasn't so horrifying.
I do recommend this book if you haven't already exhausted yourself on the topics listed in the second paragraph. It's a funny cultural critique of everything from nineties movies to the current political climate. Though it's a shame this book will likely never make it into the hands of those who actually need to read it.
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Rating: really liked it
It seems as if nothing has been learned out of the sad period of inquisition and burning witches, because just not talking about problems such as sexual abuse, fat shaming, rape culture, abortion, gender pay gap, sexism in media, etc, and doing as if they didn´t exist anymore in White Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic, or bigoted, hypocritical, etc. countries, is worsening the problem through downplaying and ignorance.
West owns the ridiculous democratic, educational, media, heck, all systems and just shows them what they are. I´ve read quite a lot of anti racist, pro equality and social change, feminist, progressive literature over the years and am coming to a point where I would say that I can give the quality seal of perfect, objective, fact based, and true research distilled to an unbelievable book.
Think about that, all the Big History, free independent whistleblower citizen journalism works completely ignored by all mainstream media, not discussed, debated, not influencing laws or politics. It´s so sick and disturbing, after realizing the true state of society, that one truly doesn´t want to participate or help any of these so called, pseudo democratic institutions, organizations, and, in their core and hearth, deeply racist, hateful, misogynic, feudal, and elitist systems.
That´s why witch hunt is such an appropriate title, that´s what´s happening each time when someone dares to speak up and protest against atrocities, unfair systems, and very especially, offender protection. Because poor old serial rapists don´t know that that´s not trendy anymore, molesting and grooming have drastically fallen in public popularity, but please, don´t be so serious about it, are you a misandric ageist who doesn´t want him to have some fun before funeral when he is already that old? Boys are boys too and the girls asked for it, as always, those little witches.
It makes one so sick to think about it. I am, subjectively, very sure that the sad truth is that there is more hate trolling, slut shaming, victim blaming, and downplaying and relativizing media articles than people standing up against sexual violence, rape, abuse, and psychological manipulation, that it´s a minority of people who aren´t directly or indirectly promoting such behavior and helping the criminals to get away with.
This is very often accompanied by the role of the victim, of course exclusively for criminal offenders and people with destructive, dangerous mindsets, the real victims should please get over it silently. That´s what I´ve read, heard, and seen whenever talking to people about controversial topics myself, one comes with detailed, hard, proven data, logical and universally acclaimed facts, and the other one is just like: "I am offended by this nasty topic. You make me sad, I feel bad, that´s unfair, you don´t have the right to do that, how evil." Sure, adult, pseudo sophisticated, privileged, white, people who hardly ever had to really do hard physical work in their lives, never suffered from abuse, don´t feel good when it´s getting serious, and attack the legions of hundreds of millions of women who were victims of crimes so disgusting most of these hypocritical do gooders could never overcome such trauma themselves.
It´s strongly reminding me of
Khan Cullors Patrisse´s When they call you a terrorist A black lives matter memoir
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
and Kantor Jodi She Said Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
because it shows the same problem. People who are have been discriminated for centuries, women and people of color, are wanting nothing more than the same right, legal protection, freedom of speech, basically the same human rights their opponents have for generations, and get nothing but violence, discrimination, hate, death threats, and real killings. As if the history of suppression and exploitation hasn´t been enough, these anachronistic creatures keep attacking their former victims who dare to rebel and fight for their rights.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogniti...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirm...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberst...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepfake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesti...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancip...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employm...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminiz...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasligh...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intra-h...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_m...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickup_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaga...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_cu...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenge...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slut-sh...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereot...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unpaid_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valuati...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victim_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violenc...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%2...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workpla...
Rating: really liked it
I agree with much of what Lindy West says in her new book, but I can't shake the feeling I had when I read her first book. That feeling is of confusion - why aren't I liking this book better when I agree with a lot of what is being said? In no way am I trying to be judgmental or say the tone of this book is wrong - it's just not my particular style.
There were some essays I liked more than others (I also share being mystified by Adam Sandler's popularity), I laughed out loud during the Goop one (how ridiculous) and the one on Women and how from a young age we are fed though pop culture the way girls behave/act/look and the same for boys.
I appreciate how this book opened up my eyes to look at things differently. Certain ways of thinking are just so engrained that it's hard to re-learn what you just absorbed as a child. What I also think is unfortunate is that the part of our population that would benefit greatly from reading this - won't, and the people who agree already share the same opinion and don't really have anywhere to go from here. I guess that's the real problem with our polarized society. We're all just talking (or screaming) into the void and there is no real conversation in the middle.
Review Date: 11/17/19
Publication Date: 11/05/19
Rating: really liked it
"Yes, we are witches, and we're hunting you." What an impressive and readable collection of essays. Lindy West, the author of
Shrill, has returned and she's ready to share some facts and clapbacks.
I have to be honest, these essays were at times hard to read--not necessarily due to the author, but due to the wounds that they reopened for me. Being a woman in today's world isn't easy, and we're still fighting to be heard. Being a woman in America...yeah, it's rough. These essays have receipts. They have anecdotes. And they'll throw you into each and every one of the political turmoils of the now.
The title
The Witches Are Coming is derived from West's analysis of Trump's frequent use of the phrase "witch hunt." While Trump is determined to use it as a label that is pro-men, West is quick to remind us that witches were always women who spoke out and had agency, and the phrase "witch hunt" has historical roots in female oppression...not the other way around. So for West, yes, the "witches" are coming. And it's time for a reckoning and reclaiming of the term.
Also, a side note: the chapter on Adam Sandler is inspiring. I, too, hate Adam Sandler for what he represents. West gets it. You tell 'em, girl.
Thank you to Hachette for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
I don't want to start on a bad note, but I didn't love this book. I felt it preached to the people who pretty much already 100% agree with the author and though I agree with her on many points, I also found some of them a little problematic and likely alienating to those who are slightly less fervent than the author about certain issues. Of course an author knows her audience and there's nothing wrong with that, but I had expected something a little different here, which may well be my own fault. I liked "Shrill" and I think I would get along well with Lindy West, but I felt that her views are expressed in as black and white a manner as people on the very opposite end of the political and ideological spectrum would present theirs, which is to say, little argument would be accepted, minds are firmly made up. Maybe I am being unfair, but I also expected a little more depth and maybe some more new ideas from this book and its author. I respect West for being upfront and addressing points that are important to her, but the ones she chose, while relevant, did not feel revelatory or especially thought-provoking. In many respects I whole-heartedly agree with her, but the issue, I think, is that her readers will be like me, people who already mostly think the way she does. I don't think, with this book, she will reach those who do not already think like her. Another point that irked me a little was that she advocated "getting angry", because nice girls don't win. This is a point I have come to find very irritating nowadays. Yes, sometimes you have to get upset to get involved; yes, sometimes anger is unavoidable, but ultimately, I still want to believe, naively perhaps, that being kind, being thoughtful, and even reserved, thinking before ranting, is worth a lot, too. This world could use more of that and less anger. All in all, I thought this was okay, but it also fell short of what I hoped it would be. That being said, I still think West is well-intentioned and I will be interested in reading what she comes up with next.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
Rating: really liked it
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Lindy West is a relatively new author for me. I've never seen or read
Shrill, the work from which she drew fame; the first thing of hers I read was her collection of essays about popular films. That collection of essays was one of the funniest things I've ever read. I don't think I've laughed out loud so much since reading David Sedaris's DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND DENIM. That collection of essays was the impetus that finally got me to watch
The Fugitive. Obviously, I needed to read more of what this woman wrote, asap.
THE WITCHES ARE COMING is quite a different beast from her other book. It's still funny, in parts, but the overall tone is much more despairing and serious. This book was written during Trump's presidency and reflects a lot of growing frustrations shared by people who ended up further marginalized under his callous leadership. A lot of the complaints about this book are about the fact that it's too political and too depressing, but I think that's the point. It's a call to action. Nobody listens to a polite whistle. You need an air horn.
Luckily for me, West has very similar views to me when it comes to politics and pop-culture (the only thing we majorly disagree on is pockets-- I'm sorry but dresses with pockets are the BEST and I will fight you, Lindy West). I found myself agreeing with a lot of what she was saying and also the way she said it. Some might find her essays long and meandering and they do circle around a lot, making multiple loops sometimes before she finally goes back to her original point, but the journey is part of experiencing the destination and some of her side-tangents ended up being really engaging.
Some of the topics she writes about that were particularly noteworthy to me: society's tolerance with problematic or flawed men while condemning women for basically breathing too loud and not being nice enough; bad and/or limited female representation in media-- either in the roles or the production of; why Gwyneth Paltrow is ridiculous (although honestly, this essay was the weakest-- you should check out Cynical Reviews on YouTube for his takedown of both Gwynnie
and Goop Lab); South Park and why its creators actually suck a lot; reproductive rights and why they matter; men feeling marginalized even though they're not and how that can lead to violence and bullying of women; and the importance of combating climate change and participating in causes you care about.
It's a pretty big mixed bag of subjects but I really enjoyed most of these essays, and I liked that she chose to end the collection on a note of hope after dealing some pretty emotionally intense truths. My friends had a lukewarm reception to this book on the whole, but I'd honestly recommend it to anyone.
4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars. I'm a bit conflicted on this one but I can't bring myself to rate it less than 4 stars because a) I love Lindy West and want her to succeed b) I enjoyed parts of this immensely - there were moments that made me think, moments that made me feel (I got teary-eyed over Guy Fieri for gods sakes). West writes in this way that is
so chatty and fun and easy to read that I kept having these little fissures of shock every time I remembered that, oh yeah, she's
also really fucken smart.So why, then, did this not totally rock my world? Why did I find myself wanting to skim through chunks of it?
I think that for me a lot of it felt like a retread. Maybe it's that I've done a lot more reading on various feminist/social issues in the last 3 years since I read and loved
Shrill, but there was a lot here that didn't exactly feel new. There are some really
quality moments of wisdom, some nice quotable nuggets, and there are several main themes that I would have loved to see expanded (our predilection for turning away from truth and going with the flow, how many people choose to cease growing as they get older, how we are taught it's not cool to care, etc.).
But I don't think it was enough for me. I don't need to be convinced that sexism or racism or classism or fatphobia or climate change are a problem. And what's the point of merely stating the problem? What are we here for? Solidarity? Laughs? Those are here, definitely, but
doesn't it all just feel a little like... preaching to the choir? I don't know, maybe I'm expecting or asking for too much, but I wanted something that's more about moving us forward. I kept impatiently thinking "Yes, and..?"
Sigh. I don't know. This wasn't bad, by any means. Parts of it were really good! I laughed! I cried! And obviously a lot of people are loving it!
I just expected to whole-ass love it when I only actually half-ass did, and I guess I'm a little bummed about it.
Rating: really liked it
It’s absolutely wonderful, as is all of lindys writing. Thought provoking and funny. I devoured it.
Rating: really liked it
I deliberately chose
The Witches Are Coming from the library's new release shelf because on occasion I like to step outside my comfort zone and read something that differs from my beliefs or opinions - in this case, subject matter involving some fairly extreme left-wing politics. This is one of those times that it did not fare so well. (Or, to paraphrase the elderly knight at the end of
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - "He chose . . . poorly." LOL) Author West certainly has some talent when it comes to composing an sharp essay, but she seems disturbingly proud of having absolutely zero tolerance for the opposite side of the political spectrum . . . to the point of it feeling insufferable and hypocritical. My original review was more harsh, but a GR friend (thankfully) offered some constructive criticism.
Rating: really liked it
This was goddamn incredible - a fantastic, funny, insightful
clapback of a book. I sometimes incorporate my favorite quotes from a work in a review, but if I did that with
The Witches Are Coming, I'd be copying and pasting the whole book. This was my first read from Lindy West, and I was astounded at how much I love her writing. She discusses serious issues here, the most pressing and infuriating issues of our moment, but couches them in brilliant and funny entryways to make them accessible and inarguable to anyone. If your politics are even 20% similar to West, you will be snapping along so hard your fingers will fall off.
She discusses how America is intensely allergic to acknowledging when things are wrong through the story of Grumpy Cat's real name or Chip and Joanna Gaines's religious affiliation. She discusses the farcicality of "witch hunts" and shaming "identity politics" by talking about a gear-swapping Facebook group her husband is a part of (trust me, it makes sense when you read it). She discusses online harassment, portrayals of women and abortion in media, the privilege of wellness culture, and so much more.
But most importantly, just when you start to get a bit disillusioned with American society, she reminds you that the world is a beautiful place worth saving, that this country is ours and that your beliefs should not be shaken by all the people trying to shake them. You should hold firm in your activism and give a big ol "fuck you" to anyone who laughs at you, paints you as hysterical/angry/unproductive, tries to "trigger" you, harasses you, or tries to turn you standing up for what is right into the punchline of a joke.
Thank you for writing this kickass book, Lindy West - when it comes out, I am going to make all my friends and family read it. (Thanks to NetGalley and Hatchette for giving me the privilege of reading this ARC.)
Rating: really liked it
Thank you, Netgalley, for an advanced copy for review! I have been reading a ton of feminist literature recently and they were starting to blend together, so I took this nice and slow.
This book was fantastic, taking a place for me among the recent feminist literary giants like Feminasty or Good and Mad of the past year or so. Surprisingly, I hadn’t heard of Lindy or her social media storm and other happenings of the past few years, so I went in unbiased, and I was glad for it.
Firstly, this book is quotable as heck. For the sake of this being an advanced copy I read, I think I’m not allowed to quote anything, but consider it sufficient to say I want to just print this book on a scroll, walk to public areas, unravel it across the pavement and get up on a soapbox to read it aloud. It’s great. Any chapter would make an excellent oration – in fact, the audiobook version, if being made, will probably be fantastic, just like Feminasty was; some stuff needs snarky enunciation and so forth. The book was written in a great tone for those formats of delivery – alternating internet slang with millennial street lingo with scholarly rhetoric that I want to engrave on something. That exact tone, casual with strong tones of exasperation, made it extremely readable and relatable reading.
Lindy covers a lot in this book, a lot that rational women today should be mad about, concerned with, or fighting for actively. Her frank explication of #MeToo, abortions and how they really aren’t the big deal everyone thinks they are, Adam Sandler’s comedy, heck, even GOOP by Gwyneth Paltrow. Lindy’s there with an unvarnished take on most things that have come up in at least my own personal life. Trump is more than hateful rhetoric, she impresses, he is the embodiment and symptom of hate and gross behavior that has grown like a tumor beneath America’s skin for years and years. And climate change. She doesn’t hold back, and she is a native of Seattle, close to where I live, so her no-holds-barred take on how this crisis will affect it specifically hit home for me.
As I finished reading, I felt both hopeful and choked-up with frustration, just as Lindy is throughout these pages. We
can do something to mitigate climate change, we
can choose not to watch South Park or Adam Sandler movies, we
can vote Donald Trump out (or impeach him, at this point).
I like that Lindy didn’t present a rose-colored glasses vision of anything; her blunt honesty is everything we need, and probably exactly why she was hounded on social media so viciously. Most can’t handle frank truth from feminists, and that’s a fact. But Lindy is hilarious, she makes sense, she is convincing. The witches are coming, and
we can join and help them.
Rating: really liked it
Given the way the last couple years have gone, I expected
The Witches Are Coming to be about all of the elements of Trump's America that are relevant to Lindy West's interests: reproductive rights, pussy grabbing, Brett Kavanaugh. And certainly the book
is about those things, but it also deals with some unexpected topics:
South Park, Joan Rivers, West's husband's audiophile gear swap & sell group on Facebook. West always has a larger point to make, of course, and it's always a good and relevant point, but it took me a minute to get used to it, that this book is about... just whatever Lindy West feels like writing about.
Like
Shrill,
The Witches Are Coming never fails to be sharp, intelligent, interesting, and funny, but I found myself wishing West would apply her skills to a more sustained work. A nonfiction book that's an in-depth exploration of a single topic, maybe. Or even a novel: West's first love is comedy, and I kept thinking I'd like to see her use it in service of fiction (as she did, to a certain extent, in the
Shrill TV series). I just think West's obvious talents could be used for something other than somewhat casual essays on somewhat related topics.
Which, I realize, kind of makes it sound as if I didn't like
The Witches Are Coming. But I did! The highest compliment I can pay this book is that it makes clear that its author is talented enough to do something even better.
Rating: really liked it
“[The accusation of witch hunt] has the power to transform pretty much any credible accusation against a man into an unfair — nay unconstitutional — and unfounded smear campaign.” Doesn’t that ring a bell as we approach the first day of the Trump impeachment hearings? I had never heard of this author, but after reading the blurb and the introduction I was expecting something more serious than this book delivered. I learned after the fact that the author was responsible for a comedy TV series and wish that I had known that before I started reading. I also wish I had known this was a series of disjointed essays.
While I agree with her take on underlying feminist issues, I didn’t care for her writing style and all the pop culture references. The essay I disliked the most was “Is Adam Sandler Funny?” Really, no one is making you watch Adam Sandler. If you don’t like him, just don’t watch his movies. The author not only watched, but took extensive notes and then wove his transgressions into feminist complaints. The book is preaching to the already converted. I didn’t get the feeling that I was going to learn anything new and I wasn’t being entertained, so I bailed out after 7 essays.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 ☆Prior to picking up this title for a buddy read, I knew nothing about Lindy West. From the GR summary, I thought that West was a comedian, but she’s a great deal more than that.
In
The Witches Are Coming, she tackles American culture and how it’s been structured by white males for the benefit of white males. West speaks out on behalf of not only women but for all those other ethnicities and races who didn’t get the mantle of power and status as their immediate birthright because they weren’t born with XY chromosomes and with the “right” skin color.
I didn’t love but did enjoy and agreed conceptually with most of West’s 16 essays. I wouldn’t say that her material was anything groundbreaking to females, who are most likely to be her readers. My favorite topic West addressed was how “likeability is a con.” Anything about a woman can be picked on (
voice, body, hair, shoes, kids, no kids, sex, no sex, money, no money, inhale, exhale...do anything, die) and deemed an unlikeable aspect and thus a reason to dismiss anything that woman has to say. A (white) man, however, can
murder, steal everyone’s money, grab a woman by her p***y and won’t automatically be deemed unlikeable. Case in point was the Judge’s effusive praise for the wasted potential of serial murderer Ted Bundy during his sentencing.
My least-liked topics included the ones on popular culture and I would say about a quarter of
The Witches Are Coming was lost on me. I’ve watched and enjoyed two movies by Adam Sandler, and that’s all I care to view. I have never watched “South Park” nor have I ever willingly listened to the vitriol spewed out by Joan Rivers as “comedic fodder.”
I do, however, applaud West’s persistence in speaking out the truth. She’s fighting the good fight and making a target of herself because truth is more important than succumbing to the con of likeability.
Rating: really liked it
“This is a witch hunt. We’re witches, and we’re hunting you.”God, I missed Lindy West. I mean, she didn’t go anywhere and I read
Shrill only two months ago and I still haven’t seen the show and she’s written pieces for a dozen or so other media outlets, but I still miiiiiiissed her!
While Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman was a lot of West’s own personal life, growth and realizations,
The Witches Are Coming examines societal shifts more holistically and offers a ruthlessly necessary cultural critique. If her previous book was in part a crash course on the history of the internet up through the first half of 2016, we’re now taken on a trip through many generation-defining events that have taken place over the past three and a half years. The election of Donald Trump, Brexit, the #MeToo movement—these all have happened in the relatively short but also inexplicably long period since. In addressing not only these happenings, but the inevitable backlash to the backlash, Lindy West provides a thoughtful and well-reasoned examination of subjects that
still are too discomfiting to bring up in some ‘polite company’. And she does it all with the same level of cutting humor that you’d come to expect from her work.
And, guys, it’s really
really funny. I was cracking up over even the chapter titles. Come on,
Ted Bundy Was Not Charming—Are You High? That’s fucking classic; I want it embroidered on a pillow or something. And she replicates one of my favorite parts of her last book, which was the reflective look at one the idols of her youth, Howard Stern. But instead of Stern this time, she devotes entire chapters to examining the legacies of comedy legends such as Adam Sandler and Joan Rivers. Even some of the chapter titles, like
Is Adam Sandler Funny? , would be enough provocation to set off a pack of furious fanboys to defend his honor, but I beg you all to take the time to read what she’s written. These aren’t hit pieces; the conclusions she reaches are nuanced and even the criticisms aren’t really levied at the performer personally, but at the society that shaped as well as consumed them.
Even those who weren’t #blessed with their own chapter received credit where it was due. Ricky Gervais and Louis C.K.’s contributions to comedy aren’t merely tossed aside by a changing world, but they also aren’t immune to being challenged by it. One of the funniest chapters features Gwyneth Paltrow in all her Goopiness and it’s not mocking or glowing in the way we’ve come to expect towards her, but instead is refreshingly giddy and candid. West balances comic whimsy and difficult truths with the same level of deftness as Mary Poppins, disguising the bitterness of medicine with a spoonful of sugar. It really does make it all easier to swallow.
Most chapters feature a story from West’s own life, either a hilarious anecdote or a moment of frustration, that is used as a segue into a topic of importance for her. A few are really Trojan Horses that don’t reveal their true nature until further into the piece, but some are upfront about the content for good reason. In
What Is an Abortion, Anyway? she discusses not just her own real abortion, but her fictional one as well. Her insistence to include
Shrill’s main character, Annie’s, abortion in the pilot was the same determination that birthed the
#ShoutYourAbortion movement online. While not as satirical as the other essays, it’s just as sharp and truly beneficial to anyone who considers themselves pro-choice.
Real talk, I was so giggly while reading this. My Kindle copy is so full of highlighted passages that if I had done the same thing to a physical copy it would be like 65% highlighter. Her self-awareness makes her so endearing and her biting wit is funny as hell—I just thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this book. The end left me optimistic and with a sense of pending accomplishment, which, yeah, is probably unearned at this stage, but with a clear path forward. I don’t know what else to say; Lindy West left me feeling happy and gave me some hope.
*Thanks to Hachette Books & Netgalley for an advance copy!
