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A review by kayelina
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
5.0
“Please know that you do not have to be famous. You do not have to have your own tour someday. You do not have to have a show or a movie or a book. Unless that’s what you want. But you need to be a real person with a real heart to remembers where you came from.”
This book is not for everyone. This book is not for her fans. This book is not for women. This book is for her Asian American daughters, hopefully for them to read when they are 21.
I am an Asian American (Hawaiian/Filipino/Chinese) 22 year old woman who has a passion for stand up comedy and I fucking needed this book. I am the fucking demographic if there ever was one.
I feel seen, validated, loved, and cared for. This book made me cry several times (especially the part that spoke on Hawaiian rights and history, it didn’t need to be included and it was and I’m forever grateful). This book was filled with things I needed to hear. I needed guidance. I needed laughter. I didn’t expect to be so moved by this. Not just by the lessons and the stories but the love that emanates from Justin and Ali is so powerful. They literally are perfect together.
Ali’s early tales of loneliness, sex, and being poor and single in a big city, how she dives into the racism and sexism and fear of safety of the comedy world is relatable and refreshing, knowing that I’m not the only one who has thought or experienced these things (in fact it’s why I didn’t continue to peruse comedy.)
And of course her humor, raunchiness, and grossness is a big ass plus. I will probably reread this book often for comfort and for love. There is so much I can learn from this novel. I’m so grateful to have found this gem. Thank you, Ali, and I mean if you get bored one day and happen to read this, let’s get some Vietnamese coffee girl.
This book is not for everyone. This book is not for her fans. This book is not for women. This book is for her Asian American daughters, hopefully for them to read when they are 21.
I am an Asian American (Hawaiian/Filipino/Chinese) 22 year old woman who has a passion for stand up comedy and I fucking needed this book. I am the fucking demographic if there ever was one.
I feel seen, validated, loved, and cared for. This book made me cry several times (especially the part that spoke on Hawaiian rights and history, it didn’t need to be included and it was and I’m forever grateful). This book was filled with things I needed to hear. I needed guidance. I needed laughter. I didn’t expect to be so moved by this. Not just by the lessons and the stories but the love that emanates from Justin and Ali is so powerful. They literally are perfect together.
Ali’s early tales of loneliness, sex, and being poor and single in a big city, how she dives into the racism and sexism and fear of safety of the comedy world is relatable and refreshing, knowing that I’m not the only one who has thought or experienced these things (in fact it’s why I didn’t continue to peruse comedy.)
And of course her humor, raunchiness, and grossness is a big ass plus. I will probably reread this book often for comfort and for love. There is so much I can learn from this novel. I’m so grateful to have found this gem. Thank you, Ali, and I mean if you get bored one day and happen to read this, let’s get some Vietnamese coffee girl.