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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
This is an autobiography by Hannah Gadsby, and I listened to the audio version also read by Hannah.
Hannah basically talks about her life, and how it shaped her as a late dx'd Autistic/ADHD person who is also Queer. CW: Rape and a few other things, but to her credit, Hannah also mentions them up front. They are not super detailed, but they are mentioned several times, so know your spoon level before engaging.
I found this memoir to be humble, relatable, and tear jerking (mostly in the relatable sense) as well as darkly funny. It's so bittersweet to be a late dx'd person, and look back at your life with the lens of 'now I know', but it doesn't change any of the hard things. Not to mention, the battle of fighting stereotypes about ADHD and Autism that just won't go away. She talks a lot about gender inequality, and her experiences living with the rampant homophobia in her homeland of Tasmania. She also talks quite a bit about family relationships, especially with her mother.
Probably the best parts are how she describes her understanding of being neurodivergent, and also how she was able to take that knowledge and learn how to protect herself, unashamedly. Which, I think is difficult, especially for those of us born with a uterus and trained to behave a certain way by society from the time we're born. It's hard to ask for your space, your safety, your POWER. But, Hannah shares her journey with it, and it's just.. nice to feel seen in a lot of ways.
I always suggest people read first hand accounts from neurodivergent people, it's the best way to learn and understand. Honestly, I'd give this ten stars if I could. I have absolutely zero complaints about anything.
Hannah basically talks about her life, and how it shaped her as a late dx'd Autistic/ADHD person who is also Queer. CW: Rape and a few other things, but to her credit, Hannah also mentions them up front. They are not super detailed, but they are mentioned several times, so know your spoon level before engaging.
I found this memoir to be humble, relatable, and tear jerking (mostly in the relatable sense) as well as darkly funny. It's so bittersweet to be a late dx'd person, and look back at your life with the lens of 'now I know', but it doesn't change any of the hard things. Not to mention, the battle of fighting stereotypes about ADHD and Autism that just won't go away. She talks a lot about gender inequality, and her experiences living with the rampant homophobia in her homeland of Tasmania. She also talks quite a bit about family relationships, especially with her mother.
Probably the best parts are how she describes her understanding of being neurodivergent, and also how she was able to take that knowledge and learn how to protect herself, unashamedly. Which, I think is difficult, especially for those of us born with a uterus and trained to behave a certain way by society from the time we're born. It's hard to ask for your space, your safety, your POWER. But, Hannah shares her journey with it, and it's just.. nice to feel seen in a lot of ways.
I always suggest people read first hand accounts from neurodivergent people, it's the best way to learn and understand. Honestly, I'd give this ten stars if I could. I have absolutely zero complaints about anything.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
I think everybody should make a memoir, but also Hannah Gadsby is so incredibly insightful and smart. Really good read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
This book made me both laugh and cry, and most books, even my all time favorites, are hard pressed to make me do either. I especially loved the audiobook version.
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
This is an absolutely stunning memoir. Every iteration of this review I have tried to write has gotten long-winded and off-track, so I am going to condense this into what I found most impressive and important about this memoir. Firstly, Gadsby’s comedic voice is very clear throughout the whole book. It was impossible not to hear Gadsby performing this as I read it, her performance cadence and presentation (at least, my impression of them from her two Netflix specials), have been masterfully adapted to the page. Secondly, she does an incredible job of bringing the reader into what the life experiences of a neurodivergent person are like, but not through explaining or speechifying, but simply showing. The way she is able to matter-of-factly explain how different sense experiences, or different environments, and so forth, have immediate and visceral effects on her, and how those are just givens that mediate her experiences of reality, allows the reader an interiority of experience that has the capacity to reorient an understanding of what it means to be in the world. Gadsby doesn’t ever make any claims to a universality of experience across the spectrum of neurodivergence, but instead she is incredibly specific about her experiences, and she does so centering her experiences instead of a diagnosis. It is one thing to be given a list of common characteristics of someone with ASD, but it is entirely different to be invited to follow their experiences starting from childhood, seeing how their understanding of and experience of the world shaped everything in profound ways that a diagnostic list can never do.
Gadsby manages to be hilarious, poignant, and gut punching all at the same time. She shares decades’ worth of context that was behind the hour-long performance of Nanette that most of us are familiar with, and it only serves to enrich her story and comedic bonafides while further cementing her as an incredible talent that is able to find the emotional center of an experience and then craft the narrative that shares that experience in such a way as for it to be most impactful, and simultaneously true to itself. By sharing her story in such an intimate and thoughtful way Gadsby has generously offered the opportunity to reconceptualize how we experience ourselves and other people, encouraging us to be kinder, better versions of ourselves.
I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group--Ballantine Book, who provided a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Gadsby manages to be hilarious, poignant, and gut punching all at the same time. She shares decades’ worth of context that was behind the hour-long performance of Nanette that most of us are familiar with, and it only serves to enrich her story and comedic bonafides while further cementing her as an incredible talent that is able to find the emotional center of an experience and then craft the narrative that shares that experience in such a way as for it to be most impactful, and simultaneously true to itself. By sharing her story in such an intimate and thoughtful way Gadsby has generously offered the opportunity to reconceptualize how we experience ourselves and other people, encouraging us to be kinder, better versions of ourselves.
I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group--Ballantine Book, who provided a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.
i knew there were a lot of content warnings, but i gave it a go and it proved to be a bit too intense. i love the nanette show, but i think i'll leave it here with the book.