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A review by abbie_
Meaty by Samantha Irby
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.25
I really liked all the frank discussion about sex and Crohn's disease (all the reviews I've seen mention the amount of poop talk, but I still don't think I was prepared for the amount of poop talk!), but other parts of this collection felt very of its time, i.e. 2013. That's the trouble with books that are meant to be funny, humour is very subjective to its time. Like in 2013, everyone was saying 'interwebs' and 'oh noes' and it was fine (I guess) but reading it almost 10 years later feels a bit cringey.
I know Irby also later came out as bisexual, and I'm not sure where she was in her journey when she wrote this, but there's some talk of wanting to 'decide to like women from now on' after bad experiences with men, which didn't sit right with me. Obviously now I know Irby is actually bisexual, but from what I can gather in this collection, she was still identifying (publicly) as straight. Hopefully the whole rhetoric of 'choosing to like women because men are trash' thing is also something we've left behind in 2013, and obviously Irby came to terms with her sexuality later on which is great!
But overall, a good collection that made me exhale through my nose many times and even laugh out loud once or twice! Will definitely read her later collections too.
I know Irby also later came out as bisexual, and I'm not sure where she was in her journey when she wrote this, but there's some talk of wanting to 'decide to like women from now on' after bad experiences with men, which didn't sit right with me. Obviously now I know Irby is actually bisexual, but from what I can gather in this collection, she was still identifying (publicly) as straight. Hopefully the whole rhetoric of 'choosing to like women because men are trash' thing is also something we've left behind in 2013, and obviously Irby came to terms with her sexuality later on which is great!
But overall, a good collection that made me exhale through my nose many times and even laugh out loud once or twice! Will definitely read her later collections too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Excrement