Here it is, in case you haven't seen it yet. You're welcome.
My head exploded. I NEEDED THAT BOOK!
If you cannot tell, I totally have a girl crush on Issa Rae right now.
Flash forward about a couple weeks. I'm in book club and we're talking about her shows, and one of the other members (Andreana) mentions she has her book on audible and there's a new feature called "Send a book". Later that night, once I got home, I saw that she had sent the book.
GLORIOUS! I started listening to it immediately.
“You guys know about vampires? . . . You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. And growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn’t see myself reflected at all. I was like, “Yo is something wrong with me? That the whole society seems to think that people like me don’t exist?” And part of what inspired me, was this deep desire that before I died, I would make a couple of mirrors. That I would make some mirrors so that kids like me might see themselves reflected back and might not feel so monstrous for it.”
Review
The book is hilarious. I was snorting with laughter for much of it. She's a brilliant comedian, especially catering to the socially awkward.
There's a lot more than jokes in this book. It gets pretty personal - which only helps me relate to her more than I already did.
I was a pre-teen when internet chatrooms were a big thing. Like her, I was interested in some of the sexy-times stuff. Also like her, I had no idea what I was doing. I can't remember much of those times in detail, except one thing stands out.
Some older guy was chatting to me, mostly I just let the guys say whatever and I tried to understand what they were saying and then repeat it back when I thought it made sense. Anyway, this is a guy I'd talked to for a while - I never gave any of my real information, mind you. I catfished the hell out of everyone I talked to online - saying I was 18 when I was like... 11. Back to the point... during one of these escapades, I mentioned that I had gotten "hard". Again, I was like 11 and had no idea what the hell I was saying. The guy immediately stops, asks if I'm a guy - and I panicked and blocked him.
I totally have a girl crush on Issa Rae.
The book has a lot of amusing stories with some pretty personal ones mixed in. I highly recommend it. She's an amazing woman. I wish I could put into better words how much I appreciate the stuff she does.