As with all of the authors books, I found this book to be very funny, and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish

Like the author's previous books, this book is no different. It's funny and filled with humour, and it's definitely full of detailed observations.

I have found all of Irby’s books so far hilarious, smart and totally relatable. Quietly Hostile is no different - I found it engaging and very funny. Irby has an irreverent and witty style that makes listening to her voice incredibly enjoyable. The essays cover a multitude of topics that have come up in the course of Irby’s life and even the most seemingly everyday experiences are recounted with a sarcastic and direct humour that are so much fun to hear about. It’s easy to relate to this honest woman who is happy to put her thoughts and observations out there for her readers to enjoy and relate to. If you’ve enjoyed her previous work, you will definitely enjoy Quietly Hostile and if you haven’t yet read anything by Irby then I highly recommend giving her amusing anecdotes a try!

Samantha Irby’s writing career has taken her to new heights, as she now takes calls from Hollywood and writes for a string of successful TV shows. But behind all the glamour, she is actually still trying to just survive. These funny, open essays detail the parts of Samantha’s life that might not make it into her new life full of fame and fortune. The essays talk about bodily functions, getting older, family issues, Sex and the City and sex in an honest, refreshing manner. They can be quite graphic at times, so Irby’s style is perhaps not for everyone but she is certainly a witty, snarky voice that is not afraid to shy away from the truth.

I really enjoyed this book! I love Sam Irby - I didn't finish the whole thing so will buy to finish it

Absolutely loved every minute of this. Samantha Irby's refreshing honesty, quirky viewpoint on life and fantastic sense of humour make for an unputdownable read. I will be buying this for many people in my life who I know will love it just as much as I did.

Lately I've been on a real Samantha Irby kick, which for those of you not in the know means, a silly, boisterous, crude and laugh out loud funny place - with moments that shock because of their sincerity and depth and sadness. Her writing started out as a blog that gained popularity, and that format still suits Irby, with lots of scattered thoughts and lists and asides, here taking the form of books of essays. I read Quietly Hostile on my Kindle through Netgally, which wasn't the best format for me as I tend to read on my Kindle when I'm falling asleep, so reading this resulted in me laughing so hard that I was awake far later than I had to be. Particularly, during the essay that is an homage to the Dave Matthews Band made me shake with laughter every time I closed my mind and tried to think of literally anything else.

However, the real loss is not listening to Irby read it herself. It's not to say that her written work isn't very impressive, of course it is, but her audiobooks are just so special. I had already read Wow, No Thank You on audiobook and it helped that I could imagine Irby's cheeky voice while reading such darkly funny lines as "Life is hell. Everyone time I learn new shit about the human body, it makes me yearn for the grave".

In each of her books I've read so far (and certainly We Are Never Meeting in Real Life) I've been really taken aback by how vulnerable Irby makes herself, speaking freely and articulately about grief, heartbreak, illness and disability. A laugh is never far away in these moments, but it doesn't cheapen the sincerity, it adds complexity to it.

I never want Irby to stop writing (and narrating) these books of blog-essays, but I'd like to read something longer form from her too, which is mostly a personal preference as I am not good at dipping in and out of books like this and try to read them as if they are a novel. However, I still scream laughed in shock at all three books, and I can't say that about any other writer. Her books won't be for everyone (if you don't want to read about poop please look away), but I know so many people who would enjoy them.

Samantha Irby is an auto-buy author for me. I know I am guaranteed to laugh, cringe, relate and just overall have an enjoyable time, and her latest set of essays delivered. Irby is unapologetic, entertaining and I enjoy the aspect of vulnerability she adds to her stories. Even when I didn't or couldn't relate to a particular essay, Irby tells it in a way that brings you in and make you get it. Like catching up with a hilarious friend! Thank you to the publisher for the copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Another great essay collection from Samantha Irby. I am not usually a non-fiction reader at all but I do love to read Sam's hilarious essays. The writing and the wit makes this such an easy read to dip in and out of.

This is the fifth collection of essays from Samantha Irby, and she shows no sign of stopping.

Her voice is so distinct, you can hear it in your head as you read the essays. She talks about her experience and her life as a forty year old, Black lesbian American woman, and a successful writer. In the same way as Georgia Pritchett’s “My Mess is a bit of a Life” [link] is distinctly from her, as a white, mid fifties, British woman who’s also a successful writer.

One of the things I love about non fiction, and memoirs/essays, is that insight into someone else’s life. It’s not likely that I’ll ever sit in a meeting about the episode of Shrill that I wrote (Irby wrote the brilliant and well received “Pool” episode), but her descriptive writing puts me in that place.

I also like the spots in the stories that you recognise yourself in - hurtling through your fifth decade, feeling out of touch with the next generation coming through, imposter syndrome…

I’m not going to spend too much time describing what happens, as I think it’s better if you do that yourself. I recommend this for people looking for an easy, interesting read (and her other books too), for those who have an interest in writing, in TV and seeing things from someone else’s point of view.

As someone who is a great fan of the memoir/personal essay form, I was excited to be approved for this collection. Texts such as Dolly Alderton’s EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE have become immensely popular of late, and, in Alderton’s case, for good reason: there is a distinct style, format, and voice to her writing. It seems to me that Irby has also read Alderton’s text, and admired the same elements so much as to attempt her own replication, instead of something original and thought-provoking. The result is a lack of polish and, frankly, a rather annoying narrator. I was particularly bored by the Dave Matthews Band section; all of which felt like a first draft.
In short, Irby’s writing is not for me. I wish her all the best, but doubt that I’ll interact with her any further.

Quietly Hostile

I have been looking forward to reading another book from Samantha Irby, and the wait was worth it! Quietly Hostile, her fourth essay collection is just as funny and full of compassion as her previous ones.

This book is like spending time with a friend you haven't seen for a long time who wants to give you an insight into their life. Hilarious and tender, Samantha Irby covers topics we're meant to brush under the carpet, and makes the ordinary laughable.

Samantha Irby covers the whirlwind of being kicked out of a rented apartment in the city at the start of the pandemic, and the rush to get home to her wife, her addiction to QVC, talking about her experiences of writing for the Sex in the City spin off, And Just Like That, diarrhoea from her Crohn's and a man who she used to date who wanted to pee on her. Not only that but she delves into race, class and sexualities add more and more depth to each of her essays as she talks about her experiences of being a queer black, fat woman living in a conservative part of America and how this impacts her life, and her chronic illness.

Essay collections can be hit and miss but not Samantha Irby... every essay is brilliant.

I really loved Quietly Hostile and now there's a long wait for another essay collection.

Thank you netgalley for the ebook copy of Quietly Hostile

What really caught my attention was the title, and the author explain it at some point, and I can tell you that was the best part of the book for me! And it was so relatable! I should adopt this expression too, because sometimes it is so me that it hurts.
And there are a lot of relatable parts in this book. It was a nice read, full of funny moments, and sure, I could have done without so much about bowel movements, but I guess I am just lucky to not have these problems. It made me think more about who has this kind of problem too because they are not nice at all!
All in all, this is a fast book that can be relatable, so much so, in some parts, but obviously, it's hard to find something real and 100%relatable because we all have different lives, and experiences and all so... it is not a demerit!

"Quietly Hostile" is hilarious and terrible in a good way (usually at the same time). Irby's humour is savage enough to have reduced me to tears. In one episode I was crying so hard with laughter that my partner thought I was unwell. They thought I was choking, that is how funny this book is. Her narrative style is hugely relatable, and she writes it how it is from going out, to dealing with younger generations, to sex and the city. There is a huge amount to be said for someone who can capture the thoughts of a generation so well, someone who on paper is hugely successful but genuinely also just trying to keep their shit together. It is an absolute banger of a read, as well as a balm to the "Am I the only one who thinks this?" moments in life.
From understanding the strategies used to survive public restrooms (we all know that one stall...we all know that it is trapped), to how health management in middle age works, particularly with chronic illness, there is little that Irby is unwilling to exam. I enjoy her almost too much information style of sharing insights.
The one drawback for me was that I found the sex and the city chapter to be incredibly long, it was funny but sometimes it felt too stretched for me.
Overall, a very solid read and one that I'll be recommending to friends.

Honestly, I'd read Samantha Irby's grocery lists. Erm, maybe not actually, because I think they're mostly Pepto Bismol. And she probably doesn't *actually* have grocery lists, she's too busy in Anthropologie buying candles she doesn't really need, or some treats for a house party she's not actually going to go to.
Either way, I'd quite like to be her friend - but I'm sure everyone says that, right? Mostly, I'd like to just have access to her lengthy descriptions of adult films. Thank you.

I've been a fan of Samantha Irby's ever since I read "Wow, No Thank You" a few years ago - and this essay collection is more of that uncontrollable laughter-inducing, self-reflecting, poo-relatable content I've come to expect. There were a few essays that didn't hit quite as hard (you'd have to have a really in-depth knowledge of Sex and the City for some of this...) but I'd recommend this book to anyone.

Quietly Hostile is straight-talking comic and essayist Samantha Irby's third collection of witty and relatable stories that immediately have you enraptured. I aimed to read the first few pages only, just to get a flavour of it, but, like any great book, before I knew it, I had been carried away on a rather swift and rather gusty wind of complete relatability, unapologetic stances and laugh-out-loud funny moments all tied neatly into a pretty bow with each page exuding realism, emotion and often biting, acerbic wit.

Drawing from as vast personal subjects as her favourite music, sexual trysts, ongoing health troubles, her complicated family dynamic and the inconvenience and stress of the coronavirus outbreak at the time, each essay is a self-contained gem and a snippet of Irby's life with each having a relatability and pure genuineness that is rarely found within the genre and that resonated with me through to the last page. The liberally interspersed sardonic, self-deprecating humour throughout is a joy to behold and had me racing through the pages which is quite unusual for an essay collection.

However, I wasn't interested in the essay about Sex & the City and going through what she would change about each episode because I don't like or care about the show and going through quite a few of Dave Matthews Band tracks similarly but stating why she likes them in a separate essay also lost my attention slightly after being engrossed up until those points, but, of course, this is all subjective. For me, there was a slight lull in those sections, but in an anthology of topical writings, such as this you, will naturally find some more compulsively readable than others.

That said, Irby is inimitable when she addresses topics of interest as she manages to strike the perfect balance between casual and amusing remarks, openness and honesty, emotion and apathy, light-heartedness and seriousness about her situations, feelings and thoughts. The most hilarious part of the collection in which I could barely contain my exuberant laughter was the essay entitled 'shit happens'. It had me cringing and snorting in equal measure, and in 'o brother, where art thou?' a few tears slipped down my cheek while she discussed the death of her mother which was poignant and emotional.

I can't wait to read more from such a strong, fearless and unique voice; Irby fills these pages with the thoughts many of us are thinking but are often too embarrassed or shy to espouse, and she has the balls to place them in a book! Highly recommended.

UPDATE: Review posted to Amazon at midnight on 18/06 and has still not been approved by them as of midday on 24/06. Have posted a different version today with the wording slightly altered in case it's that. Will keep an eye out and chase it up and will post the link as soon as it appears on Amazon.

UPDATE 2: Had to replace it several times due to it not being verified and getting no notification to say it hadn't. After replacing many words that I thought could perhaps be the issue, it is now FINALLY up. Amazon is very temperamental, it seems. Link attached. Thank you.

I loved this!

Loads of my book friends love Irby, but this is the first that I've read.

I‘m definitely going to listen to more and have found two on Scribd audio (Wow, No Thank You and We Are Never Meeting in Real Life)

Usually a big fan of Irby's previous titles, I was excited to pick up more essays from her.However I found this one tended to miss the mark on a number of levels.It’s hard to pinpoint a central theme or consistent thread in “Quietly Hostile.” From twenty-plus pages on pornography to a two-page piece on whales, the collection was generating whiplash left and right. Though it is fitting to call the collection an “outrageously funny tour of all the gory details that make up the true portrait of a life,” it is also disappointing to navigate what felt like an unorganized mash-up of internal ramblings.

Although I greatly admire her being open about her various struggles with depression and medical conditions, I felt this one strayed a little too far into that territory and I came out of it feeling nauseated and way too familiar with the workings of her bowels.

That said, Irby is a writer who should be read and whose work should be uplifted. The essays that do work hit the nail right on the head (in terms of humor and pacing), and bring to mind Irby’s past nonfiction work.

it's brilliant, outrageously humorous and thought provoking. All the type of quirk and social awkward behaviours, plenty of social remarks..
It's witty and well written, it made me laugh and think.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This bordered on 'too' raw for me. Funny in parts, poignant in others, but I found the majority to be quite crass and nearly gave up after the pants-wetting chapter. Also this should have either been a book about SATC or not about SATC, not some weird hybrid that devotes a lot but not all to the show.