I truly loved every word in this book and immediately pre-ordered so that I can forever refer back to it.

Ziwe is incredible, but we knew that before reading her collection of essays titled, Black Friend. She brings a fresh, incisive, perfectly snarky, and astute perspective on contemporary topics that we as a society say we examine critically but very often fail to grapple with in meaningful ways. Relevance, racism, and reality tv skim the surface of Ziwe’s ponderings within her latest work. I thoroughly enjoyed mulling over every thought she captured and routinely asked my boyfriend to listen while I read passages aloud.

Lines like:

“It’s Barbie packaging but when you bite into the sandwich, it’s barbed wire.” Or, “Personally, I long to be a canceled rich man because that is just a vacation,” are some of the many brilliant soundbites Ziwe inserts in her essays, and which reverberate throughout this book.

Another quote because IT IS IMPORTANT re: western society’s approach to cancel culture and more specifically, confronting racism:
“Blaming individuals is fun, deconstructing centuries of oppression requires so much boring reading. One tactic is like getting stitches, and the other is like getting a transplant of every vital organ—even if the face is the same, it is a totally different person.

I couldn’t sing praises for Ziwe’s work any louder, albeit off-key.

Aside from using the word “irregardless” once, I have no notes for Ziwe’s arresting, satirical delivery of insights. Thank you to netgalley and ABRAMS for the ARC!!

This was a wonderful book. Some parts funny, some parts making me stop and think.

“One of my first memories was my mother informing me that giving birth to me ruined her body. I didn’t exactly understand the science behind how pregnancy and childbirth changes the physiology of a woman’s body. I still don’t. But I understood that my body is the reason my mother didn’t like her body anymore. As a result, I developed a strange relationship with my own.” I say this often… that babies ruined my body….

Copy and pasting code words like “THANKYOU” and “FREESHIPPING” and “BLACKFRIDAY” in the middle of the spring (to no avail) on the off chance that I break through and get some savings. — totally me!!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Ziwe is a queen, an icon, a legend. What else can I say?

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

I love Ziwe so much. I could read story after story that she has written. Her insight and honesty around the world is so worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and ABRAMS for the Advanced Reader's Copy.

If you are a fan of Ziwe's incisive comedy and commentary, like I am, then you'll definitely want to read Black Friend. With snippets from Ziwe's iconic interviews, ruminations on her life and cultural phenomenon, and plenty of asides, this book has it all. In particular, I loved the levels of complex analysis Ziwe uses to look at the absurdity of American life, the ill-logic of racism, and the dire yet hilarious mishaps of the elite. Simply couldn't put it down!

I love Ziwe!!! I was so delighted to receive an advanced copy of her upcoming collection of essays, Black Friend, especially in light of the absolutely tragic news that her show has been cancelled (criminal). In Black Friend, we get a chance to get to know the real Ziwe better and honestly? She does feel like a friend after reading this. She is still the fabulous woman we know from her show, the same one who would wear a furry hat on a hike and stare down a white man questioning which side of the street she is allowed to walk on, but she also reveals her motivations, family history, and lots of anecdotal stories about what it's like to be the Black Friend. I love Ziwe and I wish she was my Black Friend IRL. Five stars.

I really loved this collection of essays from Ziwe. I love her show, where she asks tough questions in her interviews and doesn't strive to make her subjects comfortable. The essays were smart but also funny, insightful about the role race has played in her achievements and her feeling "not enough" even though she is clearly a very driven and deserving person.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC!

This book was so good and so funny and also super important regarding alot of topics that Ziwe gave her opinion on etc etc. Each chapter was an essay on a topic and she would share her opinions on and also tell the reader things that have happened in the present, past history wise as well i thought it was super informative. This novel had such funny moments and i usually am not want to laugh at a book as im reading one but seeing Ziwe on watch what happens lives and clips from her show on twitter i had to request this book because she is so funny yall would love this book i felt like i was reading a mini memoir and it showed me more of who Ziwe is and i felt i got to know more of her just from reading this novel. Also the cover of this novel is so cute. I could not put this book down i finished it in a day Ziwe sucked me in and kept me reading and stanning each chapter because not one chapter was boring at all. Queen of writing books. Overall this was a great read and i feel as if you know ziwe you will love this novel but if you are not familiar with her read and find more about her like i did! Great book ziwe!