The title says it all. Clearly I am not the target audience for this piece, but I can only give my opinion. My general impression was the author is trying too hard. The rapid-fire barrage of self-deprecating insults and trying-to-shock situations came off as embarrassing, rather than provocative. I had hoped this would provide amusement in our COVID-19 time,, but the world of the author was too distant from my own to make connections. Readers from a different generation and place may have a different reaction.

Samantha Irby knocks it out of the park with this collection. It was absolutely fantastic and the perfect book to read during the Covid quarantine. I laughed so hard that I cried and I have been recommending it to everyone that I know.

Samantha Irby is simply the best. Her writing is smart, hilarious, and so fun to read. Another winner.

What's not to love about someone who thanks librarians and Luann de Lesseps in the acknowledgments? Laugh out loud funny.

Eleven I-know-I'll-reread-this-one stars.

I was a huge fan of Samantha Irby going into Wow, No Thank You (to the extent that I was nervous that I just...couldn't like it as much as Meaty or We Are Never Meeting in Real Life). But I did. I really did.

I felt so lucky to get an early copy of this title, but rather than tear through it right away, it became my "in case of emergency" book. Like, in case I had a disastrously long and stressful day. In case I was stuck on a hot, gross train that wasn't going anywhere. In case I couldn't sleep at 2 in the morning. In case there's a pandemic and my city shuts down and I'm doing everything I can not to be anxious about it, but also read the news enough to know I really should be concerned.

This book was the answer to all that. I am endlessly grateful to Irby for writing it, and will be rationing Judge Mathis recaps until her fourth comes out.

Thank you to Vintage/Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for a free e-arc of this title for review.

This is the first book I've read by Samantha Irby and it didn't disappoint. I love how unapologetic and authentic she is as she narrates and shares embarrassing moments and success stories of her life. I love her style of writing. She is very hilarious, entertaining, and full of surprises! Now I really need to read the rest of her books!

Samantha Irby has done it again. This is the perfect, hilarious escapist read from the never ending Coronavirus news cycle. It also might be the best one she has written. I loved reading about her career progress, marriage and family life. She has definitely come a long way and I have loved being a part of the journey

This is the first book of Samantha Irby's that I've read and I really enjoyed her take on life. Her thoughts on getting older and trying to still keep up with your younger you were spot on and she is really funny!!

Samantha Irby is a queen of her craft, no matter how self-deprecating she is about it, and I don't think any of us will ever have such a command of language or be even a fraction as funny. Those are just facts.

Irby is a goddess when it comes describing the universality of things we think that we alone deal with, whether it's the anxiety of awkwardly trying to grab lunch with a new acquaintance or getting your first period loooooong before you expected to. In addition to the humor, her essays explore some of the darker sides of life: Fatphobia in medicine, homelessness, crippling anxiety, and more.

I'm not really sure why this book didn't click with me as much as I wanted it to. Essay collections are always tricky for me, but part of the reason is most likely situational: The strange thing about reading work dedicated to the universality of daily life when we're in the middle of a once-in-a-century global health crisis is that nothing we're experiencing right now is normal. Some people will take great comfort in that when reading Irby's writing about the way things used to be, warts and all; others may not.

But it has to be said, since she has an essay dedicated to it: Irby's episode of the television show Shrill is must-watch TV.

Read my full review here: https://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.com/2020/04/wow-no-thank-you.html

Discovering Samantha Irby is like being transported to humor heaven. Filled with zingy one-liners about all facets of life, Irby is in rare form in Wow, No Thank You. The essays in the book cover an enormous number of topics, from Crone’s disease, to marrying a woman with children, to house repair, to being an introvert, to urination and poop. Nothing is taboo to Irby, and everything in life can be a source of humor.

The other day, my sister said to me, “You laugh inappropriately, you know!” Well, I have to tell you I did a lot of inappropriate laughing while reading Wow, No Thank You. Frankly, my favorite people are those who don’t take themselves too seriously, and if there is one thing that can be said about Samantha Irby is that she doesn’t take herself too seriously.

My favorite essay concerns her move to Kalamazoo. Wait??? Kalamazoo??? I live in Kalamazoo. How did I not know about her? Then, as I looked closer, she started to look familiar to me. Had I actually met her sometime? She describes herself as a “middle-aged depressed lady with chronic diarrhea.” Well, many of my friends are middle-aged depressed ladies with chronic diarrhea. Finally, when I watched an interview on You Tube, I realized that while I hadn’t met her, I instantly identified with her work and her views on life. On the other hand, I think that I may have met her wife, who is a Kalamazoo school social worker and works part time at our neighborhood bookstore, Book Bug. Actually, the book launch was supposed to happen at the Book Bug this week. By the way, you can buy an autographed copy of Wow, No Thank You at This is a Bookstore, which is part of the Book Bug. Kalamazoo friends, run, don’t walk, over there. Grab a copy before they are gone. They will curbside deliver it to you.

One of her favorite topics is her introversion. She says that she used to party a lot. “The only reason I stopped is because I got too old to do it right.” Being an introvert has become her theme for the interviews that have come since the book was released on Tuesday of this week. Because of Covid-19, she hasn’t been able to do any book launch events. Therefore, there are many, many online interviews. Here are a couple of interviews that I found especially pleasing: a written interview and a video interview.

When asked about how she was surviving being housebound for the past few weeks, Irby mentioned that she is the master of social distancing, so being stuck at home was not a problem for her. What being housebound offered for me was the opportunity to revel in Irby’s crazy humor, quirky thinking, and downright gross musings. Would that I had the kind of verbal guts Samantha Irby has! You gotta love her! The New York Times reviewer absolutely adores her writing.

Irby says that she has had trouble making friends in Kalamazoo. Samantha, I want to be your friend. Find me on Facebook.

Hilarious, raunchy, and unapologetic. Looking for a book to distract and tickle you? Wow, No Thank You is the one! I imagine it is positively fabulous on audio. Kirby's essays are raw and relatable and helped me feel connected while we are in quarantine. Reads a bit more like a series of blog posts rather than essays, best consumed in small daily doses, but certainly does the job of lifting your mood during this weird time. Keep it on your nightstand and start or end your day with a giggle. Thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 stars

This is my favorite book so far of Irby's essays. It's funny because it's true. How was I supposed to learn about winterizing my house? Is sex really better than successfully hiding ice cream from your family? The distraction is timely and perfect.

With everything going on in the world right now, I needed to read something that would make me laugh and this was the perfect choice. I mean, the first line is "This book is dedicated to Wellbutrin."

I didn't know anything about Samantha Irby before picking up "Wow, No Thank You" but after literally guffawing throughout it, I'll definitely be reading her first book "Heavy." Long story short, Irby is a former blogger who doesn't shy away from talking about anything - her crazy sex life, her financial issues, her bodily functions - it's all very specifically detailed in this collection of essays. If you read the line "I am neither beautiful nor smart. My most impressive skill is being able to quietly shit in unexpected places" and want to know more, this is the book for you!

I walked away from reading "Wow, No Thank You" with valuable life advice like "' BE COOL,' I warned my inner tuna casserole. Nothing is more embarrassing than unbridled enthusiasm" and, more importantly, a smile on my face. Samantha Irby is the truth-telling BFF we all wish we had and through this book, we get to benefit from her wickedly funny and still heartwarming wisdom.

Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf and the author for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Samantha's third essay book is a balm to the soul in these surrealistic times. Now 40, married and settled in Michigan, Samantha writes about moving to a small town, homeownership, and the things becoming a published writer brought her. Like her time in LA writing for the new TV show Shrill or before that, trying to sell a TV show script/idea.

All in her traditional funny dark humor, holding none, baring it all.


"Writing a television show is like hanging out with your friends in the same room every day, arguing about what should happen on a show you haven’t watched yet. After the first week, I waited for someone to show up and tell me, “Okay, hoe, it’s cute that you thought we were just gonna let you sit in a chair and get paid to think about imaginary people. Here’s your scrub brush, you remember where the toilets are, right?” And . . . I would do it. I would scrub those toilets. "



Bonus: Sam shares her recipe for cheeseburger macaroni.

Hello, 911? This takeout spot doesn’t have online ordering.

Samantha Irby’s writing is incredible. She’s hilarious, raw, and so relatable. Reading these stories feels like you’re catching up with an old friend, not an internet stranger. I would highly recommend ordering this one (out today!) during your #socialdistancing time as a much needed break from real life stress.

This is the first I've read of Samantha Irby's writing and while I loved the title and cover (all of her covers are amazing) and the promise of refreshingly honest hilarity, the book was hit or miss for me. The hits were literally spit-take funny (cracker crumbs everywhere) and the misses were largely a matter of unshared context (the music stuff missed me) and some good, old-fashioned uptight squeamishness on my part. The publisher describes it as "smart, edgy, hilarious" and "unabashedly raunchy" — and that isn't just marketing talk. ⁣⁣
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Some of the hits: Her reluctance, as a 40-year-old, to leave her house and follow through with plans that seemed reasonable when she made them is basically me at any age. The "Guide to Simple Home Repairs" is a hilarious list of home maintenance questions laced throughout the narrative of Irby's various living arrangements through the years. Her time in Hollywood pitching her own show and writing for Lindy West's "Shrill" is a perfect outsider-insider account. ⁣⁣
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Content Notes: Strong language and very frank discussions of, well, anything. No topic is off limits. ⁣⁣
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My thanks to #NetGalley and Vintage/Knopf Doubleday for a #DigitalARC of #WowNoThankYou!

"... is this what it's like to date these days? I'm not asking from the snooty perch of the Smug Married. I am genuinely concerned that this what women are encountering when they are trying to see a movie and get a pizza with three toddlers stacked in a trench coat masquerading as an adult human male."

Confession time: this is my first foray into the literary stylings of Samantha Irby. I hadn't heard of Meaty nor We Are Never Meeting in Real Life prior to cracking this bad boy open. But I do love me a good memoir - especially one written by a funny lady who tells it like it is (haaaaay, Lindy West, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey!). So when NetGalley (thanks, btw) offered me Wow, No Thank You in exchange for my honest review, much like The Sugarhill Gang, I decided to Jump On It.

This book, as books tend to do, has chapters. But wait! In Wow, No Thank You, each chapter is a standalone essay about... something. Some of these somethings are funny and interesting to read about - like when Sam temporarily moved to Hollywood to be a writer for the Hulu show Shrill. Or when she was trying to make a new adult-friend and got caught in an embarrassing snafu at a restaurant. And I also dug the chapter where she pretends to be an advice columnist. But I found a lot of the stories to be pretty meh. Samantha almost gets a dog, but then instead she (wait for it)... gets a cat (yawn). Samantha moves in with her wife (yawn). Samantha describes, in detail, what it's like to prepare for and then actually go out with friends at the age of almost-40 (big yawn). These chapters had their funny snippets, but overall I wasn't ROTFLMAO. Or even LMAO. Just mildly L.

Two of the chapters had me raising one eyebrow. Yeah, I can do that. lesbian bed death is a seven minute long list of "Sure, sex is fun, but (insert random quasi-sensical thing here)" and hello, 911? is a nine minute long list of quasi-sensical things a quasi-sensical person would not actually call 911 for. And I get it - that's the joke! But it just... isn't that funny.

Look, if Meaty legit gets turned into a television show, I will be watching the sh!t out of that sh!t. Props to Sam for being unapologetically herself, even when that self is far from the cookie-cutter image society tells us we all should strive to be. 'Murica needs more Samantha Irbys and fewer boring-a$$ Kim Kardashians if you ask me. Which I know you did not.

"Imagine feeling like the nine dollars you spent on a discounted paperback book entitles you to rip the shithole out of the person who wrote it! I know you wouldn't do that, but many people are not graced with your impeccable manners."

Sorry :/

Thanks to NetGalley, Knopf Doubleday/Vintage Paperbacks, and Samantha Irby for the opportunity to read and review this series of essays. I will preface this review with saying that I'm old, so I'm sure I'm not in the target demographic for this book but there were still so many times I laughed out loud - and loudly - while reading this!

I wasn't familiar with Samantha Irby before reading this book but, hello, that cover! Even if like me you can't quite relate to some of the topics here, you will love the honesty and openness of Irby discussing her health issues and real true life feelings that we probably never admit to ourselves, let alone the world. Trust me - a few of these chapters alone are worth the price of this book. A Guide to Simple Home Repairs was absolutely hilarious, as was Hello, 911.

In today's world of social distancing and fear of everything and everyone, a little humor can only help!

Hello 911?  This book made me laugh so hard I started secreting fluids.
*
There are many kinds of reading enjoyment, and consuming Samantha Irby’s words is the relishing kind. So much about being a woman is being subconsciously on-guard: against media that objectifies you, a country that hates you, and men who do active & passive harm just by being alive and unaware of their systemic privilege. To cast yourself into a book knowing with utter certainty that the writer is on the level—that she knows how bad shit is, but she’s there too, and she’s gonna remind you about the absurd shit and the good shit, and she’s gonna make you laugh about ALL of it...this isn’t what we typically think of as luxury. But it IS luxurious. It feels decadent. Bon-bons on a chaise lounge decadent. Cool ranch Doritos in bed decadent. Canceling plans and ordering delivery so you don't have to leave your dumpster hovel decadent. That is basking in the hot glow of Sam Irby’s hilarity superpower.
*
I picked this book up and didn’t put it down except in moments when I needed both hands free for a full-body wriggle of glee. Things I did while reading this book:
-laughed so hard I had to bury my face in the neck of my hoodie
-laughed so hard I cried
-laughed so hard I spewed La Croix
-laughed so hard i asphyxiated a partially masticated Dorito
-laughed so hard i someone came in from the other room and asked what was the matter
*
This book will make you feel known on a cellular level about everything from taking showers to weird blog obsessions to Having Plans to being a late but passionate iPhone adopter to painstakingly constructed 90s mixtapes to earnest crushes on Janeane Garafolo to “friends” who leave voicemails. And even if none of those things are relatable, you're still likely to laugh yourself breathless and feel more expansive and generous as a result of reading it, because those are the qualities which suffuse every page of Irby's writing.
*
10/10, no splash. Pre-order now.

Yes, please. I love Irby’s dry, self-depreciating wit and enjoyed hearing about her experience working on Shrill because that pool scene, chef’s kiss. Hello, 911? is an instant classic.