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

Ten Steps to Nanette is a memoir of sorts by Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby.

This is one of my favorite memoirs that I have read, and I LOVE memoirs. It is raw and funny and hard-hitting all at the same time. The author is brutally honest about who she is and what her life has been like: the realities of autism, being gay, and what it's like to be "different". Many parts of this book made me feel seen and understood and I enjoyed reading the parts that I couldn't relate to as it gave me more insight into this brilliant comedian. Hannah goes into many darker topics such as sexual assault, violence, homophobia, fatphobia, and misogyny, so do look up trigger warnings before reading. That being said, I do highly recommend this book.

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alishamegan's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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wanderinglynn's review against another edition

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challenging emotional

5.0

After watching Gadsby’s Netflix special “Nanette,” I was hooked. Nanette is not a comedy show to go into lightly. There is a lot of trauma. But it's so worth watching. I then watched Douglas. Again, brilliant. So when I learned of her "memoir situation," I immediately pre-ordered the audiobook. I wanted to hear Hannah tell her own story.

Like Nanette, this is not an easy read (or listen). She has had more trauma in her 40-some years than really one person really should endure. But her matter-of-fact, almost brutal way of telling her story needs to be heard. It is a story full of trauma, which is a sad reality for far too many people, especially neuro-diverse and LBGTQ+ and women.

I recommend first watching Nanette, and then read this book. And then go watch Douglas.

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isnotacrayon's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

5.0

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kshertz's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Honestly I can’t give Hannah Gatsby anything less than the highest of scores. She’s just an amazing human. Her story is amazing, her brain is amazing, she’s funny as anything and I loved hearing her process her life up to this point. I did the audio which is well worth it to get to hear her and some snippets from her comedy shows too. Definitely inspiring and exactly what I needed to inspire me right now as the world is a deeply dark and disappointing place. But there’s always hope when there’s people like Hannah Gatsby out there.

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murderbot42's review against another edition

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3.75

Eh, this is why I don't read memoirs. Don't get me wrong. It was good! It was very, very good! But learning too much about a famous person's life is always a sketchy business. You're always going to learn something you didn't want to know and they're going to have opinions that you bounce off of. Thankfully that happened only very minimally in this book, so that's why I say it's very, very good!

And the parts that worked for me. Wow. Just wow. The part where she

kind of skipped over the sexual abuse she received at the hands of an unknown adult resonated with me so much. When she talked about reason she didn't bring up that subject more and make it front and center; it's because when you are in that situation, it's the last thing you want to do. You know on some level that this is wrong and your abuser has told you not to talk about it, and so you don't. You bury it deep inside until it almost seems you might forget about it.

When she said that I literally and actually broke down sobbing, she cut so close to the truth bone with that one.

Recommended for: Everyone honestly. Despite her saying some things I vehemently disagree with, we are all human and have all erred. Despite that content, if you have watched and enjoyed Nanette, it would be a crime not to read this. And if you haven't watched Nanette, what the fuck are you doing with your life, dude? Get on that!

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augustwordsworth's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative medium-paced

4.0

beautiful marriage of memoir, context and feeling. An insight into the life of a person I deeply admire, who has done so much through her art form, incluiding turning it on its head. I feel like I will always watch/read/listen to/see live anything that Hannah puts out, because it's important to me that people like her get seen and heard. Because through her we are then seen and it's nice to not feel so alone sometimes.

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