A mixed bag, much like many essay collections from pop-culture figures.
Current events and women’s issues humorously tackled by a successful and prolific black woman comedian.
In her follow-up to You Can’t Touch My Hair, 2 Dope Queens star Robinson brings back the unique brand of humor that made her debut book a bestseller. Here, the author explores common issues for women such as the yo-yo ride on the weight roller coaster, her own battle to accept her body image (“every day, I struggle not only with rewiring my brain to not equate self-worth with how my body looks, but also with not letting men and clothing companies define my own gaze”), and the idea of whether she has on “standing jeans or sitting jeans,” the former of which she needs to undo in order to eat her meal. She writes about men’s penis sizes, issues with her mother, the accumulation of debt, how meeting celebrities has affected her, and “being a trash person in a trash world”—to be fair, though, “no one on this planet can completely rid themselves of their trash ways.” All of the essays are filled with hashtags, slang, unnecessary abbreviations, and constant references to current events and pop culture, so readers not familiar with the current trends may get lost from time to time. Although unquestionably a humor book—and much of it is quite funny—the author isn’t afraid to confront serious issues, including violence against blacks, women, and Muslims; the difficulty of being a woman sports fan; and how topics such as abortion rights are constantly under attack by the white men in power in this country. Throughout, it’s clear that Robinson has a specific brand of humor that won’t resonate with everyone. Readers who enjoy her podcast and loved her first book will find even more to appreciate here; others should look elsewhere for a good laugh.
A mixed bag, much like many essay collections from pop-culture figures.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-53414-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Plume
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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