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Reviews
Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever and What Ended Up Happening Instead by Joel Derfner
bookjerm's review against another edition
3.0
This was entertaining, and the author had some funny quips/ one liner, but overall I found the author annoying—he mentions his Harvard education in just about every essay like it defines who he is in some way— and some of the essays lacked coherence. This was just an ok read for me.
petersenftleben's review against another edition
4.0
For the most part, I really liked this. Derfner has a funny, smart voice, yet he's highly relatable. At times I felt like he was saying things I've long thought, especially in the chapter on dating. However, I was disappointed and let down by the lengthy, overly philosophical last chapter, about the ex-gay movement. There were chunks that I liked--mostly when he was interacting with the conference goers on a personal, non-religious level--but there were entire pages that I felt were boring and lost focus. He made his point quite early in the chapter, so the last 50 pages were a little tedious to me, and I almost considered quitting early. Instead, I just skimmed it. Unfortunately, it left me remembering its weakness more than the strong 175 pages that I truly enjoyed.
bahoulie's review against another edition
4.0
I expected the book to be funny and light: a guilty pleasure enjoyed and then immediately forgotten. I was surprised to find that it was funny, but weighty. This man really did discover some things about himself while writing and did a really great job of conveying them without getting maudlin (much). I also just really enjoyed who he was, despite his crippling self loathing.
gimchi's review against another edition
4.0
surprisingly(?) enjoyable.
didn't start out as what i was expecting, but ended well. like another reviewer noted, i think i was looking for lighthearted and funny - and this book was both, but there's an undercurrent of the serious as well.
even as an adult, joel has some crippling social anxiety problems with which i became pretty frustrated - but that frustration mainly came from the fact that i could completely empathize with it. that was ME growing up. i was already different by being asian and people already assumed things about me - what if i acted incorrectly? did something wrong? walked the wrong way past a table? if i were to talk to someone, they'd REALIZE things about me. what? i don't know. that i was a fraud? oh, young kim. everyone's a fraud.
this book for me is really a 3-3.5, but i'm upping it to a 4 because sometimes, joel reads these reviews. which is totally giving me anxiety, even though his comments are fairly old.
didn't start out as what i was expecting, but ended well. like another reviewer noted, i think i was looking for lighthearted and funny - and this book was both, but there's an undercurrent of the serious as well.
even as an adult, joel has some crippling social anxiety problems with which i became pretty frustrated - but that frustration mainly came from the fact that i could completely empathize with it. that was ME growing up. i was already different by being asian and people already assumed things about me - what if i acted incorrectly? did something wrong? walked the wrong way past a table? if i were to talk to someone, they'd REALIZE things about me. what? i don't know. that i was a fraud? oh, young kim. everyone's a fraud.
this book for me is really a 3-3.5, but i'm upping it to a 4 because sometimes, joel reads these reviews. which is totally giving me anxiety, even though his comments are fairly old.
schottjm's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it. At turns both hilarious and touching. Highly recommended!
fergusjpwalsh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
sireno8's review against another edition
4.0
What a funny, surprisingly touching, unpredictably wise book!
thepentheimk's review
4.0
Swish is a delightful little romp, advertised as a man's quest to become the gayest person ever, and packaged as such, with chapters on knitting, aerobics instruction, and go-go dancing. But instead of being a shallow, if funny, look into sterotypical homosexuality, it is a much more nuanced memoir, tackling issues like the early death of Derfner's mother and his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder. That isn't to say it isn't funny, because it is very, very funny. But instead of being a waste of time, if an enjoyable time-waster, it is an intelligent little memoir, packaged as something much less substantial.
birdbeakbeast's review against another edition
5.0
went into reading this book thinking it would be a light, funny little thing to read without too much content. turns out it is both light and funny ánd has content. i can totally identify with the author.