Zach Zimmerman bringing back comedy essays in his own way.

I really wanted to like this, but most of the humor just fell flat to me. This was my first by Zimmerman, so I think a huge part of it, is just me. The writing style felt choppy, and honestly would have been better as blog posts, or even just reframed better.

I did enjoy the hard hitting parts of his essays; the death of his friend, the perspective his mom went through during Covid, and about his father.

I didn't grow up in a religious household, so I will never relate to the religous trauma that comes surrounding the forces of coming out, and the like. And that's ok.

Shoutout for him including Dunkin in his acknowledgements, that's a whole mood. *sips my Dunkin iced coffee*

Thank you to NetGalley, Zach Zimmerman and Chronicle Books LLC.

representation // Zach Zimmerman is gay, multiple people mentioned are queer

tw // mentions of homophobia, transphobia/trans erasure, religious bigotry, body-shaming, infidelity, break-ups

<img src="http://i68.tinypic.com/2rpr7nl.jpg" alt="NetGalley Review" width="150">

I throughly enjoyed this essay collection and honestly wanted more. Zimmerman is effortless funny and writes with candor and vulnerability

After listening to a podcast episode with Zach as the guest, I remembered that I had their book sitting in my neverending NetGalley list. While the title has been out in the world for over a year, I finally sat down and read this collection of essays. The essay about their classmate passing in the Virginia Tech shooting was emotional to read and I thought Zimmerman did a fantastic job honoring their late friend. While you can tell that this title was the author’s debut, I would love for them to continue to hone their writing and put out another book!

This book was chock-full of humor and amusement, while also being fulled with truths that can make you uncomfortable. I really loved that the stories in this book felt close to home, like they could be about you or someone you know. The author delivers anecdotes and stories that delve into identity, family, love and growing up gay in a Southern, religious household. Really great read and one that I'll be recommending to many people.

Zimmerman’s humor got a rare chuckle out of me at best. I also found the writing style to be awkward at times, enough that I had to reread numerous sentences or passages in order to gain clarity on what was being said. Wouldn’t recommend and won’t be looking for more from the author.

This collection of essays on a variety of different topics will take you on a rollercoaster of different emotions. Entertaining, but not showstopping.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this EPUB copy for my honest review. There was intrigue and getting insight into various new life experiences and the perspectives that come out of them. It was engaging enough but I did find myself losing interest as the pages were flipped. I had a certain anticipation going into the book that was not met for me and could not find myself being engaged or entertained with these essays throughout.

I really enjoyed this! It’s a series of memoir-style essays from a comedian who had a similar upbringing as me - safe home, great parents… and constantly worrying about your eternal soul. His notes about having to talk politics with his family these days hit home real hard. But there’s also a bit about going on a date with Satan so we’re not doing regular memoir here, it’s comedy bits and essays as well. I picked this up from @netgalley, thank you!

Zimmerman has a punchy, fun writing style, and I enjoyed some of the included essays. However, as with any anthologies, I didn’t enjoy them all equally; the list style essays, specifically, were hit-and-miss. I think many readers will enjoy Zimmerman’s style, and people from the South and Conservative families will recognize several of his cast members, for good or for ill.

Comedic essays about queer culture, to be quite honest, SELL. Especially in a bookstore owned by queer people. Even though it isn’t the best book I’ve ever read (maybe it’s because I’m not queer? Or because my sense of humor is different?) I will definitely be able to hand sell this.

I really enjoy Zach Zimmerman's voice in this. There are some fantastic pieces that I found myself highlighting lines from, and I read the whole thing very quickly. I'm still a bit unsure how I feel about the order of stories as some felt a little out of place following up pieces that were longer or more serious, though. There were a few that I wasn't a huge fan of, but overall I thought this was a fun read with some interesting takes.

This is not my usual go to but I found it to be entertaining and thought provoking - I especially liked Zimmerman's perspective on the queer community and their experiences. It was more intense than I expected!

Thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC - Is it Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth?) is out now!

✨this collection of personal essays, full of love and loss and laughter, might just be the biggest surprise of my life. i was able to read this as an eARC and yesterday i listened via audiobook and MAN, do i recommend the audio. when it comes to any memoir/autobiography situation it is always best listened to by the author narrating, in my opinion, so this was such a joy to listen to!

✨it was completely relatable for me in terms of the anxiety that came with learning about religion so young and having it follow you around when you’re older and with distance between you and it. if that makes sense. i also really related with having differences with family members as you get older and just learn more about the world and people around you vs being in the same place for the rest of your life.

✨then we had some truly funny moments in regards to zach’s personal love life, his younger years, but also some really sobering and sad moments as well. I wasn’t expecting to be so affected emotionally by these stories, but i truly was.

✨highly recommend, it’s also pretty unintentional but i finished this on the first day of pride month! so if you’re looking for personal LGBTQ stories this month, I’d pick this one up! zach speaks about a more personal relationship about being in the queer community and not completely fitting in which was really interesting to hear about.

✨thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for allowing me to read a free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions!

AHHHHHH! This one was so witty and fun and I'm so thankful to Zach Zimmerman, NetGalley, and Chronicle Books for granting me a finished copy and digital ARC access before this baby hit shelves on April 18, 2023.

Zach Zimmerman's "Is It Hot in Here..." is so funny, so well written, you can easily picture yourself in the places Hell has available to those who live it everyday. This book is a must read for the 'not shy of gruesome.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really had no idea what this book was about and I just jumped in and embraced it whole heartedly! The stories come off as funny snippets from the life of a comedian and I found myself actually laughing out loud at some points. Some other it reads as stream of consciousness while other parts are collated stories. I really enjoyed his humor and how he relates it back to religion. It’s a short read and I know many people who will absolutely enjoy this book as much as I did!

A very quick read for a memoir. Zimmerman uses humor to work through a lot it seems, and he is funny. The book itself is a bit flat, a few of the essays seemed very heartfelt and were fantastic but then it would just lead to dating tips. It was just a bit odd.

Zimmerman’s book IS a fun time and a quick read but I was more into the personal stories than the humor (essays or lists,) would have preferred a much longer book of all personal stories of his. Just because an essay appeared in the New Yorker doesn’t mean it’s obligated to be in your book. Not to mention… A Princeton grad’s book is only 150 pages? What was the reason?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this title!

We are taken on a journey of Zach’s life as he reflects on his struggle with his identity, sexuality, and coming to terms with his true self. Raised in a religious household, Zach explains how his life choices in school, dating, and friendships made him the person he is today: a homosexual, city-living, salad-eating, drag-loving man.

The first thing about this book that caught my eye was the cover, followed by a hilarious title. Yes this may be a reflection of religious trauma and gaining the confidence to move away, but what’s more interesting is that he does so in such a relatable way. I also enjoyed Zach’s journey through his various partners, the pandemic, and finally coming home for the holidays. I laughed a lot reading this, and I hope you will too. 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Just what the doctor ordered to fix my case of the blues! Short stories.....some really short....on so many different topics, there's bound to be one you'll love! Each tells the story from a slightly skewed point of view but you will definitely recognize someone you know in each of them. Why have I never read any of his books before? My TBR just got longer!