Wow, No Thank You.: Essays

by Samantha Irby

Paperback, 2020

Status

Available

Call number

PS3609 .R4723 A6 2020

Publication

Vintage (2020), 336 pages

Description

"Irby is forty, and increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin despite what Inspirational Instagram Infographics have promised her. She has left her job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, has published successful books and has been friendzoned by Hollywood, left Chicago, and moved into a house with a garden that requires repairs and know-how with her wife in a Blue town in the middle of a Red state where she now hosts book clubs and makes mason jar salads. This is the bourgeois life of a Hallmark Channel dream. She goes on bad dates with new friends, spends weeks in Los Angeles taking meetings with "tv executives slash amateur astrologers" while being a "cheese fry-eating slightly damp Midwest person," "with neck pain and no cartilage in [her] knees," who still hides past due bills under her pillow. The essays in this collection draw on the raw, hilarious particulars of Irby's new life. Wow, No Thank You is Irby at her most unflinching, riotous, and relatable"--Amazon.com.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member kitlovestea
I had a lot of fun reading this. The writing was delightfully snarky and very relatable to the point where I was smiling like a clown in public while reading it. I can't believe I waited so long to read a Samantha Irby book. Definitely recommended for anyone who needs a laugh at everyday life.
LibraryThing member flying_monkeys
I adore Irby's wit and humor.
LibraryThing member upstairsgirl
Nineties references are like catnip for me and this hit a grungy, anxious sweet spot in my heart. It's sometimes painfully honest but also thoroughly hilarious, and well worth a read.
LibraryThing member ASKelmore
Best for:
Anyone who enjoys clever, interesting essays that will make them laugh.

In a nutshell:
Author Irby is back with her third collection of essays, which cover what her life is like these days, as well as just some hilariously repetitive takes on the exact same phrase.

Worth quoting:
“Sure, sex
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is fun, but have you ever used a really absorbent towel?”

Why I chose it:
I was looking for a book to listen to while running, and realized I both hadn’t yet read this one AND it was read by the author.

Review:
Usually when I go for runs I listen to the podcast versions of four of the MSNBC weeknight shows so I can stay up with what’s going on back in the US. But it can be super depressing these days, and not exactly motivational when one is training for a half marathon. So I decided for the last few runs leading up to my ‘race’ this week (and by race, I mean I just ran 13.1 miles one morning because the Edinburgh half was once again postponed) I wanted something funny, that could make the time go quickly and also could keep me entertained.

I chose … wisely.

I appreciate Irby’s writing style. She’s honest and self deprecating, but not in the sort of way where one thinks she’s trying to get pity. She’s just clear about how she is, what she likes, and what she doesn’t. She’s not insulting to others who might do things differently - she just lives her life, while telling stories about all the shit in it that has gone wrong (and, occasionally, right).

I definitely like her storytelling, but I also found that some of my favorite chapters and moments in the book were when she would follow a theme and provide just a bunch of funny one-liners. An entire chapter is just, what, like 100 versions of ‘Sure, sex is fun but…’ followed by a lot of mundane yet awesome things. Another chapter is just her repeated saying ‘Hello, 911?’, followed by a problem or situation one definitely should not call 911 about, but secretly people might want to (and actually would just as well if it were ‘Hello, 411?’, though she probably figured that much of her audience wouldn’t remember what 411 even was). Even in a chapter about some issues she had with her uterus, the list of things she would rather do than keep it had me in tears of laughter.

I can definitely see myself listening to this one again.

Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Keep it (but I’ll recommend it to friends too)
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LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
There is an audience for this book, but it's not me. I couldn't relate and didn't want to read about the nightclub experiences or the mixed tapes/musical groups. I ended up having to abandon, so I can't speak to the second half of the book.
LibraryThing member KimMeyer
This collection started out slow, but has some real gems.
LibraryThing member seongeona
My bookclub chose this one. I had never read Samantha Irby before, and didn't know anything about her at all, so I didn't know what to expect. I was LOLing by page 25 and found it hard to put down. I really identified with some of this stuff due to my age, location, and anxiety. My favorite
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chapters were "late-1900s time capsule" for the 90s playlist, "hysterical!" for the no-holds-barred god-awful truth about the life-wrecking hell that is menstruation, "we almost got a fucking dog" for the quirks of pet ownership, and "hello, 911?" for the hilarious-when-it's-not-me shit my brain also worries about every day. There's also a cheeseburger macaroni recipe that I'll be trying!
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LibraryThing member bell7
Samantha Irby is a blogger and writer, even working in the writers' room for the first season of Shrill. But as she'll tell you, she's never really had ambition or drive and most of her day is procrastinating her writing. In this series of essays, she covers all sorts of things about her life as a
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middle-aged Black and queer woman, whether it's talking about how aging has affected her ability (and desire) to party, her Crohn's disease, or her hands-off parenting approach to her stepkids.

Humor is hard to hit just right, and I have an odd sense of humor where I don't always love what everyone else seems to - I can't watch The Office or Arrested Development, though I did enjoy Schitt's Creek. With that caveat, I'll say that for me, personally, the essays started at amusing but after awhile, I found them more awkward. She writes with no holds barred discussing bodily functions, sex, and her past experiences of poverty. She swears a lot and cracks jokes over difficult things - which, to be clear, it's her book and her life and she can write about whatever she likes, and there is absolutely an audience for this kind of book. But in the end, it wasn't making me laugh.
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LibraryThing member froxgirl
For a woman who claims to have no goals, no ambition, and to be completely disorganized - okay, maybe, but what Samantha Irby can do really, REALLY well is to tell you hilarious stories, where she's usually the butt (Irby has IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome) of the jokes. In her third book of essays,
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Irby explains how she started a little MySpace blog (without really knowing what a blog ever WAS), and her overshares became so popular that they became a website, and then other comedians and agents came to call. She is still remarkably surprised by her success, which makes her even more endearing to the reader. Frequently profane yet humble, able to overcome being raised by completely indifferent parents, her stories are ones that would have her surrounded at a party by people screaming, 'WHAT DID SHE SAY???" Not essays for the easily offended, Irby's blunt truths will leave you rapt with admiration for the writer who created 2019's Fat Babe Pool Party in Lindsey West's Hulu show Shrill.

Quotes: "In hindsight, don't ever do anything for anyone, but especially not for a man who has a girlfriend. Leading people on is a hate crime."
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LibraryThing member Sarah220
Samantha Irby seems to be trying to prove to us that she's dumb over the course of this book. What she really shows is that she tells the truth. The hilarious, painful, and sometimes gross truth. Through those truths, she instead proves that she is resilient, adaptable, and insightful. There are
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some LOL, spit-take level observations of life and I felt seen by her examples of life after 40.
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LibraryThing member addunn3
You either enjoy her writing, or you don't. For me she is refreshing, original, and humorous. Thumbs up!
LibraryThing member JRobinW
First, I must say that I'm not one who likes reading about body functions. Secondly, I am a Southerner. LOL nuf said.

At first, the body functions were a bit much for my proclivities in reading. However, by the time I finished reading this book, I realized how vital this book is for human beings
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with bodies. That means all of us. This is important reading too because all women have body issues because of society's unreasonable demands on what a woman is and "should look like". As a disabled lesbian, I found myself breathing a sigh of relief that it might be okay to think about accepting my body at 58. As a person suffering anxiety, I laughed so hard through her chapter about anxiety that I annoyed my dog and almost triggered my asthma.

Her honesty is especially refreshing in this time where we no longer know what is truth and what is spin. Hey, Samantha, it's good to know I'm not alone. I don't have Crone's and I don't like men, but I get it. I needed this book this week.
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LibraryThing member Andy5185
Samantha Irby is entertaining but bugs me after a while. I enjoyed her previous book much more. She does make me laugh.
LibraryThing member Monkeypats
Wow, no thank you is right… I don’t know if I shouldn’t have started with this book of hers, if the audiobook format was a bad idea, or if I am just about to turn 40 and therefore am an old fuddyduddy, but do you know how many times I yelled “MAKE BETTER CHOICES, Samantha Irby” while
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listening to this? If she said “Sex is great but…” or “Hello 911…” one more time I think I may have given up on the book entirely. Also, who thinks it is too difficult to wash their belly button? Like, why do 5 second personal hygiene things seem so hard to her? Wash yourself, it’s really easy. And why is she broke but going out with “friends” who will put expensive drinks on her tab? Those are terrible friends, find better friends, do people actually like people that would do that? Why does she think people are impressed by what face cream you have on your nightstand? I do not know the names of any of those face cream brands and no one I know would either. She seems to both not care about anything and also care about everyone and thinks everyone is judging everything, which most people are not and don’t care at all. I am just baffled by her choices… but I mean I guess she is doing something right because she has many books and has worked on several shows. So most likely, this is the book for someone else, not for me. You may love it. I did not.
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LibraryThing member jclavet17
Didn't even finish, wasn't amusing and a big let down.
LibraryThing member Beamis12
We all need some humor, but maybe even more so during this time. Funny, heck yes, but also so much with with I could identify. Out with friends and wishing to be home. Making plans on a certain day but when the day comes wondering what you were thinking. Looking in your closet and wondering what
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pod bought some of these clothes. Her Crohn's disease and lamenting her partners penchant for buying healthy snacks. So much more is included, her comic delivery is top notch.

Sometimes raunchy, honest and pertinent, this is my first introduction to this author. Taken all together it is almost too much, but parsed out, read here and there, these essays reflect life as many of us live as women.
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LibraryThing member SarahEBear
An entertaining collection of essays covering everything from writing, dating, clubbing to general living. My favourite was the one about the importance of the 'mix tape'.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2020

Physical description

8 inches

ISBN

0525563482 / 9780525563488
Page: 1.1126 seconds