Reviews

Maeve in America: Essays by a Girl from Somewhere Else by Maeve Higgins

camerawoman's review against another edition

3.75

Super fun. Charming and lovely. Didn’t make me laugh but it did make me cry.

ahouseman's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

Overall I enjoyed these essays, even as someone who hadn’t heard of the author before and will be looking out for more of her work. 

However I did find that some of the essays seemed half finished/ ended in odd places, when it was at these moments they really seemed to start getting going. I’m not sure if this was an effect of listening to the audiobook, rather than reading it physically. 

lilyellyn's review against another edition

3.0

Solid 3.5 stars. I enjoyed this essays from Irish comedian Maeve Higgins, but particularly appreciated some of the more serious moments writing about things like the immigration crisis in the US woven in with her fun, upbeat voice.

samleigh10's review against another edition

4.0

love her on wait wait don't tell me. she has some interesting things to say, enjoyable listen.

vgmsonnet's review against another edition

2.0

I think the blurbs definitely oversold the humor of this essay collection. While some of Higgins’ observations were quiet-chuckle (as opposed to laugh out loud) funny or thoughtful, her essays and overall tone were not cohesive.

The last third felt especially melancholy...which maybe would have been okay, because the writing wasn’t bad...but it felt depressing and wrong for a book billed as “a cross between Tina Fey and Dave Sedaris’s work.”

ikathyy's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

modernmethod's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

3.75

susanm_82's review against another edition

4.0

I first heard about Maeve Higgins on the @ttfapodcast and promptly added her book to my list. Her book of essays is funny but also very thoughtful and deep. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a comedy collection though it is funny and she is a comedian but it’s more than that. I really liked it. She clearly did research for many of these essays and has a point of view, which I like. As an Irish immigrant but also long time resident she has an interesting perspective on America. Worth checking out!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B69xYWbgfJO/

celebrationofbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

Maeve Higgins is one of my new favorite people. Ten years ago (I can’t believe it’s been that long) I traveled to Ireland for a study abroad opportunity. While certain circumstances led to the trip being an absolutely disaster, the vast majority of the people I met were wonderful, warm, gracious and welcoming. I was a young girl, traveling the country because my step-father’s ancestors hailed from the Emerald Isle (and my German was shaky, so English seemed the better bet). And one of the fascinating things I learned while there that has stuck with me ever since is this: pre-famine, Ireland’s population was nearly 9 million. Afterwards, it was 4.5 million. It is still roughly 4.5 million, though slowly growing. So why, after the famine, did it take 150 years for the population to start to recover?

Emigration. For the most part. And when someone emigrates from one location, they become an immigrant in another. Enter Maeve, Irish emigrant, US immigrant. Maeve arrived in the US shortly before the changing of the guard at the big house in D.C. And while the bulk of her book is about her experiences in NYC as an (elder*) millennial (*Iliza’s term) and details her struggles with her finances and dating (the two things that plague millennials most), she diverges to a few political and social justice oriented topics.

Maeve travels to Iraq with two other comedy writers/performers to do workshops with Iraqi and Kurdish comedians and she hosts an important podcast focused on immigration and the stories of those who have immigrated to America. Importantly, she addresses her privilege as an immigrant, being a native English speaking white female. But she is using the privilege to bring to the forefront voices of those far less fortunate immigrants, often to the chagrin of her podcast producer. Maeve Higgins is doing amazing things for the US and the world.

Yesterday, I got really angry. I was reading a Buzzfeed article, as I am wont to do when bored, and it was about Mike Pence and the Irish PM. It was a important story, well written, and made its point eloquently. However, the same picture is used twice, and the third person in the picture, the only woman, is Maeve Higgins. And her presence is not acknowledged. AT ALL. While she is not the focus of the article, due to lack of acknowledgement, readers have assumed a number of things about her role and reason for being in the picture. This article PERFECTLY highlights how often women (and immigrants) are completely overlooked by the media. All it would have taken was a quick caption: “Irish PM, VP, Irish writer Maeve Higgins and Irish PM’s Partner” (but instead of titles, put names, because all names are important).

Maeve has done tremendous things to advocate for a forcibly silent majority of immigrants. And when her visage is featured in a nationwide, widely read, publication, her presence is completely ignored–and, as a result, her accomplishments. 

shelbyl's review against another edition

4.0

Funny, interesting, full of heart. I thought it was going to be more laugh out loud funny with ridiculous retellings of unbelievable quirky stories. And there was that. But also a really interesting view of an immigrant’s story, both personal and reported. More thought provoking than I though it would be. I recommend it!