Lindy West revisits blockbuster films and reviews them with a modern edge. She has a keen wit. Her takes are razor-sharp but are done with affection. She tackles Love, Actually, Speed, The Notebook, and Twilight to name a few.

This book was just what I needed to help release some pandemic related tension. I snort laughed and laughed so hard I cried in multiple places. I feel uplifted.

Do yourself a favor and read this book.

I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to review Shit, Actually, by Lindy West. I'm familiar with West's prior work and was excited to check out this most recent offering. I was not disappointed. Shit, Actually is written with the usual snark, humor, and valuable insights as her other works. Will definitely recommend to friends!

Admittedly I blindly requested this book without seeing that it was an essay collection about movies, so while it may not be for me (i almost never watch movies or tv), West's writing style shines through in this collection and I can recommend it for movie lovers everywhere!

Lindy West is so effing hilarious, I can't handle it. Reading her writing feels like having a conversation with your friend that can't stop making you laugh. I laughed out loud so much while reading this book, I regularly had to stop to read passages to those around me because I just had to make sure someone else was in on the joke.

This was the perfect read for being stuck at home in quarantine during COVID-19—an excellent way to take your mind off all the madness happening right now. If you're looking for a critical analysis of these cultural cornerstones, this is not the book you're looking for. If you're looking for gut-busting dives into the wild, wacky, and wonderful plots of some of our culture's favorite films, get this book in your hands ASAP.

I was initially hesitant of jumping into essays about films I haven't seen, but I always came out the other side actually wanting to watch the films—even when Lindy had completely destroyed them. Face/Off, here I come.

I found peak enjoyment of this book when picking it up to read one or two essays when needing a break from my regular boring life. The structure of each essay is pretty similar throughout the book, so binging them all at once may feel repetitive. Keep this on your nightstand for a quick laugh before bed. Or maybe on your toilet? That seems like a good location too.

Anyway, this is funny. You should read it.

Film commentary comes in many forms, from the longform newspaper review to the poster blurb. Lindy West’s new book Shit, Actually is a series of essays that offers a chatty, light overview of an eclectic collection of movies. While fans of West’s work might enjoy Shit, Actually, I found it to be a departure from her normal thoughtful, intense writing style and had trouble getting through it. West’s past work includes a lot of deconstruction of the societal norms that surround women and fat people in incisive, lingering prose, while this book is much less focused on actual film commentary and more interested in providing humorous summaries. While West’s previous work has been timeless, this collection comes across as very of-the-moment rather than evergreen.

West introduces her work with a note on the COVID-19 crisis, and there are multiple references to the global pandemic throughout, which kind of puts a clock on how long this book can feel relevant. In a lot of ways, these essays come across much more as blog posts than essays edited and published in a book. While that works really well in some collections (see anything by Sam Urby) these essays have no flow, they don’t form a cohesive narrative about movies, the industry, or anything, really. There is a lot of use of Internet grammar, which does come across as very funny, and works well within the medium. The choice of films is also a bit difficult to parce, West offers her criteria for inclusion as movies she likes, cultural touchstones, and movies she thinks need to be talked about. She then proceeds to not actually talk about any of the movies, just summarize them and throw in the occasional one-liner.

There were definitely great, funny parts of this book. The titular “Shit, Actually,” which deconstructs the 2003 British romantic comedy Love, Actually is far and away the funniest and most polished of these essays. This makes sense, as this was one of the essays, originally published on Jezebel.com, that inspired the collection. This essay is truly funny, and provides pretty good commentary on the movie, pointing out the nonsensical elements and sexist tropes that populate the film. It’s not exactly an original take today, but it was originally published in 2013. There are some moments of genuine insight, but for the most part the entire book is just speed-of-light summaries of the movies that are still somehow too long. While the book is marketed as an examination of popular film, asking big questions, most of the essays come off as movie reviews dictated into a cell phone and promptly abandoned. West’s previous work might lead a reader to expect a thoughtful, well-constructed commentary for each film, that takes into account gender, race, and social stigmas, but that reader would be disappointed. Instead, Shit, Actually provides just under two dozen movie reviews containing a Wikipedia summary with a few jokes thrown in. West, normally a writer of startling originality and spectacular voice, really falls flat here.

Shit, Actually, will be published October 20, 2020. It can be purchased wherever books are sold, or borrowed from your local library.

A hilarious collection of essays that is sure to delight any movie watcher. Shit, Actually had me constantly roaring with laughter and taking a fresh look at some of those early 2000s classics. If you're looking for a book that is just pure, unfettered joy, look no further than Shit, Actually.

Loved this book, but no surprise because I loved shrill as well. Lindy is my favorite and I will read all she wrote

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 Stars!

Lindy West blows it out of the park again with this book. It’s clever, light-hearted, and engaging. Honestly, it’s everything I’ve been missing from reading lately which is why I’ve mostly been reading rom-coms until this. I’ve never seen The Fugitive, and I probably never will. [I’m not much of an action movie person.] But after reading West’s description, and repeating quotes from the book back to my friends over and over, I think I understand why every other movie in this collection is pitted against it.

Reading Shit, Actually is like talking to your very very clever best friend about all of the movies you’ve watched, or rewatched) during COVID. Your very very clever best friend has better things to say about the movies than you do, so you mostly listen and laugh and agree. [side note: do you think Lindy West would be my friend because, please????] There’s so much going on in these essays but it’s all good, and it’s all funny, even if the movies are very bad and very not funny. I can’t say that I agreed with her on all of the ratings but I did enjoy each of the reviews. Except, I would like the opportunity to defend The Santa Clause because 2/10?! Really Lindy?????? Actually, I haven’t watched this movie in years and all of my love is based purely upon seeing it in theatres with my mom on Christmas Day so I probably can’t be trusted.

I absolutely would suggest this book to all of my friends, anyone who thought Reality Bites was good because we soooooo wanted to be that cool in our teens/early-twenties, and anyone who loves Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman.

Drop everything and read this book!

Generally speaking, I hate pop culture commentary books. They all feel too try hard, as though the author is working so laboriously to be funny or create a unique take that the effort behind it becomes so grossly palpable that it veers into obnoxiousness.

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this absolute gem of a book, written by absolute gem Lindy West, who is a national treasure of a comedian.

In a time where collective anxiety is high and laughs are hard to come by, West gives us more than a few. I laughed out loud over and over reading Shit, Actually.

Confession : I’m really not even a movie person. I just don’t really like films all that much. I’d rather read or watch sports. But amazingly, I’ve actually seen and enjoyed most of the movies West features in the book. Which surely means Lindy and I must have the EXACT same taste. Right? I mean, we’re practically twins now <gloats> and based on how much I felt like she was inside my head as I paged through this delightful collection, surely she must have written it just for me!

Sigh. If only. Because I have a feeling that upon reading it, you’re going to feel the exact same way. Honestly, I’d worry about you if you didn’t.

The movie rating system West creates is based off of comparisons to The Fugitive! West’s intro explaining that makes the book worth reading on its own. Other standouts: The Lion King, Top Gun, Jurassic Park, Face Off, The Santa Clause...actually, never mind. They’re ALL good. I even enjoyed the essays on the movies I hadn’t seen.

Lindy West, consider this a permanent standing invitation to come over to my place any time and watch movies...or tv...or...a wall. This is a 10 star book trapped in a 5 star world.

I didn’t know that Lindy West had a new book coming out, so I was excited to see it for offer on Netgalley. Thank you for the review copy in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoyed Shrill & the tv show based on that book, so I was intrigued when I read the description of her new book. I wasn’t sure it would be something I would be into even though I do love movies, but I really loved it. It was funny and perfect entertainment for this weird new pandemic life where a book about movie watching (and rewatching older movies) feels very relevant. Like other reviewers have mentioned reading this book feels like a movie marathon with a hilarious friend.
At first I was tempted to skip the essays for the movies I have not seen thinking I might not get much from them. But once I started reading the book and quite enjoying myself I read them all and still found plenty of things to laugh about even if the particular essay wasn’t about something I had read.

Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Lindy West's new book: Shit Actually. As always, whenever I read anything from Lindy West I am always laughing out loud. Her reviews of movies are spot on and I hope she writes a sequel.

I am a longtime lover of snarky fun movie reviews and so this whole book of them by Lindy West was an absolute delight. Even the movies I haven't seen (which are several, despite these all being very well-known and popular movies) were fun to read her take on. The Harry Potter and Love Actually essays were my top favorites that had me legit laughing out loud but honorable mention definitely goes to the Titanic and Twilight essays as well.

This book was HILARIOUS. It was very different than books I normally read, but the title drew me in. If you’re looking for a modern, hilarious view on many popular films this is the book for you! I highly suggest the audiobook because listening to it was similar to a podcast the way it was written.

Another book where I felt like they were preaching to the choir a bit. Anyone who reads this probably already agrees with her. That said, she is entertaining as always and although I do feel like she has a tendency to be over bombastic (again, we are already on her side), it was a little tighter then some of her earlier work.

Lindy West rates The Fugitive as the top movie. She describes other movies throughout her book, one film per chapter. She makes liberal use of the ALL CAPS KEY AND HAS SENTENCES WITH ALL CAPS.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

Shit, Actually by Lindy West is showcases West re-examining beloved and iconic movies from the past 40 years from the Fugitive and Forest Gump to Twilight and the Lion King. West's funny and piercingly, Shit, Actually reminds us to pause and ask, "How does this movie hold up?", all while teaching us how to laugh at the things we love without ever letting them or ourselves off the hook. Shit, Actually is a love letter and a break-up note all in one: to the films that shaped us and the ones that ruined us. More often than not, West finds, they're one and the same

This book was enjoyable to read as someone who is often forced to watch movies that my mom loved in her youth that I feel would never work today. However, it was harder for me to read and relate to the essays on movies that I either haven't seen or don't remember as well.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lindy West has been on my radar for awhile and I never thought she would be my cup of tea... until I read this book full of hilariously caustic movie reviews.

According to the intro, some of these reviews have already been posted online, which makes sense because the language is very reminiscent of a blog post. I didn't mind it at all. In fact, the tossed off nature of the jokes reminded me of texting back and forth with my friends while watching movies during quarantine.

I'm lucky to have extremely funny friends, but if your friends are humorless bores who can't find the humor in tearing apart hit movies, Lindy is there to pick up the slack.

An extra star for pointing out that The Fugitive is a perfect film. The world needs to know!

I was so excited to read this because of the success her previous books. Every book Lindy writes has a different perspective and I love it. This one is multiple short essays paraphrasing famous movies we have all (hopefully) seen in our lives. It is beautifully and hilariously written. And the best part is everything is compared to the beautiful writings of the fugitive. I feel like now I need to watch that movie again. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I've always enjoyed Lindy Wests posts on Jezebel, but the movie reviews were always my favorite. This collection of essays had me laughing out loud during each one. I highly recommend this book if you're a pop culture fan!