Books › Wow, No Thank You.
Wow, No Thank You.
336 pages
A laugh-out-loud, unapologetic ode to the exhaustion of getting older, leaving the house, and having a human body.
What it feels like
Reading this essay collection feels like collapsing onto the couch with your funniest, most exhausted friend after a long week of pretending to be a functional adult. The pace is brisk and punchy, driven by a hyper-conversational prose style that isn't afraid of ALL CAPS, profanity, or oversharing the grossest realities of chronic illness and aging. The mood is cozy but cranky, wrapping the reader in an intimate, hilarious atmosphere of shared grievances about everything from the nightmare of rural living to the exhausting myth of self-care. It is a deeply relatable, laugh-out-loud experience that delights anyone who has ever canceled plans to stay home in sweatpants, offering a joyful, unapologetic embrace of domestic mediocrity and middle-aged fatigue.
- Mood
- hilarious
- intimate
- cozy-but-cranky
- unapologetic
- Tone
- self-deprecating
- irreverent
- exhausted
- wry
- conversational
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- aging and bodily decay · the myth of self-care · domestic mediocrity · queer domesticity · pop culture as coping mechanism
- The writing
- Hyper-conversational and profanity-laced, reading exactly like a frantic, hilarious text message from your smartest, most tired friend.
- The arc
- A hilarious descent from the chaotic energy of youth into a begrudging, deeply relatable acceptance of middle-aged exhaustion and domesticity.
- Who it's for
- Tired millennials and Gen Xers who prefer staying home, complain about their joints, and use dark humor to cope with the indignities of having a body.
Content notes
- chronic illness
- frank discussions of bodily functions
- depression and anxiety
About the book
Staring down the barrel of her fortieth year, Samantha Irby is confronting the ways her life has changed since the days she could work a full 11 hour shift on 4 hours of sleep, change her shoes and put mascara on in the back of a moving cab and go from drinks to dinner to the club without a second thought. Recently, things are more 'Girls Gone Mild.' In Wow, No Thank You Irby discusses the actual nightmare of living in a rural idyll, weighs in on body negativity (loving yourself is a full-time job with shitty benefits) and poses the essential question: Sure sex is fun but have you ever googled a popular meme?
Description from Open Library.
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