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adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Summary: A standup around the idea of thinking about the advice that White people will give to Black people about how to not get shot.
How Not to Get Shot is probably best as an audiobook. Hughley knows how to present it for laughs and when to pull back and be sober. The book is mostly satire, but he does pull back relatively often from straight satire to comment on how ridiculous some of the advice is. Quite a bit of the nearly 4-hour audiobook is advice that you have either heard, thought (said), or can imagine someone you know saying.
Hughley has helpful section such as: comply with the police, don’t talk back, remember that the cops are scared, don’t match the description, what type of music to listen to, how to name your children, don’t rush to judgment if you do get shot, etc.
The main point is that the best way to not get shot is to not be Black. But since that isn’t really an option, his use of satire to help White people understand the ridiculousness of the common rhetoric around police and other shootings is thought-provoking, while being funny.
I think there is value in standup comics talking about racial issues. Humor is one way to lower defenses and get people to actually think about something that is rhetorically difficult.
How Not to Get Shot is probably best as an audiobook. Hughley knows how to present it for laughs and when to pull back and be sober. The book is mostly satire, but he does pull back relatively often from straight satire to comment on how ridiculous some of the advice is. Quite a bit of the nearly 4-hour audiobook is advice that you have either heard, thought (said), or can imagine someone you know saying.
Hughley has helpful section such as: comply with the police, don’t talk back, remember that the cops are scared, don’t match the description, what type of music to listen to, how to name your children, don’t rush to judgment if you do get shot, etc.
The main point is that the best way to not get shot is to not be Black. But since that isn’t really an option, his use of satire to help White people understand the ridiculousness of the common rhetoric around police and other shootings is thought-provoking, while being funny.
I think there is value in standup comics talking about racial issues. Humor is one way to lower defenses and get people to actually think about something that is rhetorically difficult.
ajm2013's review against another edition
4.0
D.L. Hughley is a great comedian who weaves extremely good points through his satire. It had lots of explicit language that did take away from the points sometimes and make it slightly difficult to read but still an incredibly poignant book.
squambles's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
zeozombz's review against another edition
Great book! I will re-read several more times.
stbeaners's review against another edition
5.0
This is a short book, and while humorous, pretty poignant. DL shares anecdotes, statistics, and "what white people say" segments. His metaphors are hard to ignore, and while sometimes I might disagree with them, he reminds me that it's not really up to my opinion. Who gets to define what racism feels like? It reminded me of Austin Channing Brown's "I'm Still Here," despite being a very different book. Glad the audiobook was available through the library.
kimmeyer's review against another edition
4.0
Brutal, hilarious, and so spot-on. Definitely not for the easily offended who'd rather not acknowledge realities. (And short! The audiobook was a little over 3 hours, I believe. I love a short book.)