“Wow, No Thank You” is a collection of raunchy, dirty, hysterical essays by Sam Irby. Though this is not Irby’s first book, it was my first time discovering her work. That left me a little in the deep end when I first started reading. However, I quickly came to enjoy her self-deprecating and embarrassing storytelling filled with delightful snickers and belly-rolling laughs. This is the kind of escapist book I needed right now, and it truly delivered. If you enjoy rude jokes from an unabashedly honest person, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this book too.

As much as I laughed, I did wish the book had more of a through-line. The book was a series of essays, which were all fairly individual and did not build on each other. I would have enjoyed more tie-ins or call-backs to make the reading feel more complete. I also wish I had read Irby’s earlier works (and I plan to in the future), but I wish I had read them earlier because they may have given me better context of who Irby is as a person. Being dropped in the deep end of her life was disorienting in the beginning. Still, I learned to appreciate her style and relate to her very human struggles.

Worth a read if you can laugh at Irby’s unique flavor of vulgar humor.

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Created Jul 30, 2020 at 3:22pm • Submit your own review...