Author: Lindy West

Published: May 17, 2016

Publisher: Hachette

Where I picked up my book: Audiobook from library

Key Words: Feminism, Women’s Rights, Memoir, Body Acceptance

My Rating: 4

Synopsis (via Goodreads):

Coming of age in a culture that demands women be as small, quiet, and compliant as possible–like a porcelain dove that will also have sex with you–writer and humorist Lindy West quickly discovered that she was anything but.

From a painfully shy childhood in which she tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her big body and even bigger opinions; to her public war with stand-up comedians over rape jokes; to her struggle to convince herself, and then the world, that fat people have value; to her accidental activism and never-ending battle royale with Internet trolls, Lindy narrates her life with a blend of humor and pathos that manages to make a trip to the abortion clinic funny and wring tears out of a story about diarrhea.

With inimitable good humor, vulnerability, and boundless charm, Lindy boldly shares how to survive in a world where not all stories are created equal and not all bodies are treated with equal respect, and how to weather hatred, loneliness, harassment, and loss–and walk away laughing. Shrill provocatively dissects what it means to become self-aware the hard way, to go from wanting to be silent and invisible to earning a living defending the silenced in all caps.

My Thoughts:

I read this book back when it came out in 2016, but I thought it would be good to read it again now that the show is out on Hulu. Yep, I’m reallll glad I did. Not only because I wanted to watch the show, but I think I’ve grown a lot as a human in the past 3 years. I love myself more, I call people out more who don’t get it, and I am finding myself more confident in who I am and what I stand for than I’ve ever been in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED it 3 years ago when it first came out, but there was just something that resonated so strongly with me this second time around. I found myself fist pumping the air more times than I can count while listening and wanting to talk about it with everyone I ran into. My wife and I are taking the show slowly (one episode a night), but so far it’s REALLLLL good. And who doesn’t love a good dose of Aidy Bryant?!

In this book, Lindy covers (to name a few) fat shaming, feminism, internet trolls, marriage, sexism, rape jokes (and how they are definitely not funny), death and self-love with sharp and witty writing that is shockingly honest, real and truthful. I would highly recommend reading this one and then watching the Hulu show for an added bonus. This book will make you think, make you cry and laugh; it will empower you, and get you pumped to go out and fight the good fight all at the same time.

PS. Lindy West has a new book coming out on September 17th called, The Witches Are Coming and I’m SO excited to read it! A blurb I read states, “As much a celebration of America’s potential as a condemnation of our failures, some will call it a witch hunt. To which West would reply, so be it: “I’m a witch and I’m hunting you.” Yep…I’m here for it!

bookishfolk…read instead.