Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation

"If pushed, I usually say that a friend entered me into the Raw Comedy competition because I was making him laugh and he thought I needed to broaden my audience. Sometimes I will elaborate and say that at the time I was recovering from surgery and unable to work, was looking for something to do. On rare occasions I'll go as far as to explain that I'd be injured while working on a farm and had undergone a partial wrist fusion. None of this is untrue, but it is a gross simplification. It does nothing to accommodate the reality of my situation, the drifting, the isolation, the houselessness....what can I say? There is just never a straight line to be found through a life punctuated by trauma."

I don't have a lot to say that isn't just: go read this for yourself.

There is one particularly moving (and frightening aspect) of this memoir is in the opening third as Gadsby recounts her childhood growing up in a particularly conservative region of Tasmania - and that is the rhetoric and slander she recounts surrounding the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Tassie in the 90's is the exact same rhetoric and slander that is now being used to pull lgbtq+ books off shelves in america, the same phrases that are turning story time's in public libraries from safe spaces to dangerous ones, the same propaganda that is killing trans people all across the world - and it's a bit shocking to read how the same attitudes and logic from the 90's are still being spread today.

"The reasons they [George Brookes, Chris Miles, and Say No To Sodomy Group] and other speakers, gave as reasons for 'saying no to sodomy' at the rally were similar to those outlined in the pamphlet - the real gay agenda being the complete removal of the legal age of consent, which is the classic tactic you should now be very familiar with: equating homosexuality with pedophilia."

That's not a big - or any part of the story really, however - but what is the focus is how these institutional structures, how shame and ignorance has a deep, meaningful and lasting impact on young lgbtq+ people for their ENTIRE lives. This is an amazing read, and Gadsby (for all her claims of being a coward) does not hold back in a lot of places where it matters most.

Dont' get me wrong - there is a lot of great humour in here as well, but it's also a pretty confronting biography. It contextualises not just her comedy special, but serves as a pretty important perspective on how our attitudes towards mental illness, neurodivergence and lgbtq+ youth has not come nearly as far as we think it has.

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tea_at_mole_end's review against another edition

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1.5

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davidbythebay's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Beautifully done. I listened to the audiobook read by Hannah Gadsby, with occasional audio clips from the Nanette Netflix special. This was heart-rending, honest, illuminating, and eviscerating in its joy and sorrow. I loved listening to Gadsby's story and the process undertaken to create Nanette. Beginning in childhood and giving context to much of her stand up as well as her life, this was a brilliantly crafted memoir of sorts. Without shying away, much like in her Nanette special, Gadsby speaks about her traumas. Trigger warnings for sexual assault, rape, child sexual abuse, homophobia, violence, hate crimes, neurodivergent abuse. Thank you, Hannah, for sharing your story and enlightening the world so much through Nanette and this memoir.

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jeremy_bearimy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

Recommend the audiobook, which also includes clips from Nanette.

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