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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
This isn't going to be for everyone, but you know if it's for you, I think. Daniel Lavery is one of my favorite internet people, and so I expected to enjoy this book. If you were a Toast fan or are a Shatner Chatner subscriber, you know it's for you. If you want to read a very thoughtful, sharp, challenging and funny memoir-adjacent collection of essays about transition and identity, you will enjoy this too.
I readily admit that I'm not quite as up on my mythology and Biblical references as Daniel's writing would like me to be, so there are parts of all of his work that require effort for me to keep up with. It's very much worth the effort, and even sometimes the acceptance of missing a reference or two. It's ok! If you don't really get that biblical reference, you probably will keep up at Mean Girls, or The O.C. (sigh of nostalgia!) or Golden Girls, or Anne of Green Gables, or something else. Those references are so much fun, and I enjoy them very much. I also just really admire and appreciate the honesty, thoughtfulness, insight and bravery of this work.
I readily admit that I'm not quite as up on my mythology and Biblical references as Daniel's writing would like me to be, so there are parts of all of his work that require effort for me to keep up with. It's very much worth the effort, and even sometimes the acceptance of missing a reference or two. It's ok! If you don't really get that biblical reference, you probably will keep up at Mean Girls, or The O.C. (sigh of nostalgia!) or Golden Girls, or Anne of Green Gables, or something else. Those references are so much fun, and I enjoy them very much. I also just really admire and appreciate the honesty, thoughtfulness, insight and bravery of this work.
I have liked Danny Lavery since he wrote for The Hairpin, and now I am a regular reader of Dear Prudence. I wish that I had read this book in print instead of on audiobook, because I think that some of the more literary aspects of the book would've been easier for me to make sense of. It also would have helped if I were more well-versed in literature! I'm sure there were a lot of amazing references and stylistic pieces that went over my head.
More than anything, I felt so honored that the author was willing to share so many his internal thoughts about his transitioning with me, an unknown reader. As usual, he writes with humor and bravery, and leverages the tiny moments in life to make big points.
More than anything, I felt so honored that the author was willing to share so many his internal thoughts about his transitioning with me, an unknown reader. As usual, he writes with humor and bravery, and leverages the tiny moments in life to make big points.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia
funny
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Danny Lavery writing about almost anything is funny and engaging. Danny Lavery writing about transition is like, the best. Audiobook is narrated by author; strongly recommend it.
Thanks to Scribe and Netgalley for the ARC.
I perhaps lack the religious background or classics knowledge for some parts of this to really click with me, but I loved it all the same. I found reading it to be profoundly moving at times - and to have me cackling away to myself at others. I've been a long-time fan of Daniel Lavery's work, but Something That May Shock and Discredit You still (very pleasantly) surprised me.
I perhaps lack the religious background or classics knowledge for some parts of this to really click with me, but I loved it all the same. I found reading it to be profoundly moving at times - and to have me cackling away to myself at others. I've been a long-time fan of Daniel Lavery's work, but Something That May Shock and Discredit You still (very pleasantly) surprised me.
challenging
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
medium-paced
I feel like I lacked some of the cultural context to fully appreciate all of this (maybe I should have read the Bible before this?), but I really enjoyed the parts that I followed along with.