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A review by mybluebookshelf
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
Dear Girls is a memoir by Asian-American comedian Ali Wong, ostensibly written as a series of letters for her daughters to read when they're older. I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Wong herself.
The stories Wong told were entertaining and I found the inside look into standup comedy to be interesting. Wong clearly feels passionately about what makes a good comic and how to become one. I also enjoyed the essays about motherhood and pregnancy, which were unexpectedly honest and tender.
However, overall I found her writing to be overly crass and unnecessarily vulgar. Lots of stories about sex and genitalia, both hers and other people's. Also, I frequently found her tone off-putting, such as when she criticizes the "woke echo chamber" in comedy and then also complains about sexism and racism. Like, yes, being a woman in comedy must be tough, but you spent several pages insulting the girlfriends of male comedians. In the end, I just didn't feel like this was a book that really taught me anything big or small, or showed me another perspective. It was entertaining, but that's it.
Lastly, her (ex-)husband's chapter at the end was so self-aggrandizing it made me sick. He just went on and on about how he found meaning and self-actualization in literally everything. That man could get pooped on by a pigeon and write an essay about how it changed his life. 0/10 stars for him.
The stories Wong told were entertaining and I found the inside look into standup comedy to be interesting. Wong clearly feels passionately about what makes a good comic and how to become one. I also enjoyed the essays about motherhood and pregnancy, which were unexpectedly honest and tender.
However, overall I found her writing to be overly crass and unnecessarily vulgar. Lots of stories about sex and genitalia, both hers and other people's. Also, I frequently found her tone off-putting, such as when she criticizes the "woke echo chamber" in comedy and then also complains about sexism and racism. Like, yes, being a woman in comedy must be tough, but you spent several pages insulting the girlfriends of male comedians. In the end, I just didn't feel like this was a book that really taught me anything big or small, or showed me another perspective. It was entertaining, but that's it.
Lastly, her (ex-)husband's chapter at the end was so self-aggrandizing it made me sick. He just went on and on about how he found meaning and self-actualization in literally everything. That man could get pooped on by a pigeon and write an essay about how it changed his life. 0/10 stars for him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage