Thanks to Vintage Anchor and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Samantha Irby is pretty funny. She's also pretty weird, which is part of her schtick, which is OK. There's a fair amount of talk about diarrhea and being an awkward human; all of this is no problem. She certainly sounds like she's lived through some trauma and somehow converted it to humor.

The chapter on Sex & the City is LONG, y'all. That was the low point in the book for me, when I started flipping ahead to see just how long this chapter is and making the decision that I was going to have to start skipping ahead if I ever wanted to finish. I watched the show a million years ago, but not any of the recent iterations, and I feel like this could have been a book on its own.

The rest of the material ranges from hilarious to ehhhh. It reads very much like a humor column in a newspaper to me (I don't think those exist anymore?). I was hoping for something as propulsive as Lindy West, which this is not, but maybe that's not fair of me. It was amusing overall and I definitely LOL'd in plenty of places. A solid 3 stars.

Source: DRC via NetGalley (Vintage Anchor, Vintage) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: May 16, 2023
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

What to see what else I’m up to?
You can find me at all around the internet via my LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/angryangelbooks

Why did I choose to read this book?

I have read Meaty, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, and Wow No Thank You so I can’t stop now.

What is this book about?

This book is about everything Samantha has been up to since a little bit before the pandemic hit. It includes professional, personal, and medical stories. If you are familiar with Irby’s work, you know that the professional gets technical (which I appreciate!), the personal gets REALLY personal, and the medical can be shocking. If you’ve never read Irby’s work before, I would strongly recommend that you start at Meaty and work your way up through to this one. Reading her books is like having a long-term friendship with someone – their shenanigans are easier to understand when you’ve been with them for a while. But oh boy if you like to get mad at things with someone else who is also mad at those things? Sam’s your girl.

What is notable about this story?

I love Samantha Irby’s writing so much. My brain devours it while my emotions scream YES BITCH ME TOO GODDAMN and I come back to the idea that what is most important in this terrible fucking world is knowing you aren’t alone and Irby is an absolute mastermind at writing an essay that shows you that you are not alone. I cannot explain it. There is almost always something in everything she’s written that I’ve identified with, sympathized or empathized with. It’s fantastic, she’s magical.

Was anything not so great?

I feel like it’s important to point out here that these are parts of the book that were not so great for me. The book is very good, and chances are you’ll identify with completely different chapters than I did. You might laugh yourself silly reading her Sex and the City chapter. The comments I’m making here are purely about my personal enjoyment of the book. Irby’s books are like buffets, there’s something for everyone!

There’s always a chapter or two that I either (1) cannot read because it’s too gross for me to stomach or (2) know nothing about the topic. I skipped the part of the chapter where she describes the 39 minute nun porn video she revisits (I just don’t need to read the alt text for that, sorry!), and the entire Sex and the City chapter (Samantha was one of the writers for And Just Like That!). I had no idea what was going on because the original show was outside of my lane, so the humor missed me as well. I also kind of skimmed through the chapter about how her first book Meaty was almost made into a television show. I think it was shitty for them to drop her show after so long, and reading about it made me a little bit (a lot) mad for her.

I only have one small critique, and it’s more about this kind of book in general. I think about this book the same way I did Jenny Lawson’s recent book Broken (in the best possible way): these essays work well when they are posted once every few weeks and it’s a quick jolt to the system. Strung together like this, Irby’s writing style of run on sentences can get difficult to read, just like Lawson’s manic-ness can get kind of monotonous. So a word to the wise: do not read this book like a book. Read a chapter then walk away and come back later for the next one. Treat it like it’s a blog, and each post comes out on Thursday or something. This is good writing! The book format just kind of ruins it a bit.

What’s the verdict?

3 stars on Goodreads because I had to skip so much more of this book than any of her other ones. If you are a fan of hers you should absolutely go get this one. If you are reading my review and don’t know who she is, go get Meaty and see if she’s a person you’d like to get to know. I am disappointed that her blog isn’t up anymore, or I’d point you there to get a feel for her writing. I love Samantha and I think you should too, but this book feels like it’s talking to people who already know and love Samantha, so it’s not a great place to jump in. Either way, buy her books or get them at your public library!

I have mixed feelings on this one. The essays on shelter dogs literally made me laugh until I cried and read it out loud to my husband. Other essays were a little too crass for my Catholic-schooled self. Overall, I'd say not my cup of tea but could totally see how other people would love this.

Samantha Irby sounds refreshed and packs tons of essays full of her usual punch-up humor about love, irritable bowel disease, work, being poor, and trauma - without ever making me actually uncomfortable and making me laugh out loud, which is rare for a book to do for me. I think by the time she wrote her third book, she sounded a little spent, but the typical irby humor is back in this book, with some acknowledgement of how TIRING it has been to work as a writer. I appreciate her candor and find her brand quite impressionably hilarious.

Samantha Irby is one of my favorite humor writers, and her newest collection does not disappoint. I liked that she included a few different formats to the pieces she chose, it felt more like a blog. I think one thing that stuck out with Quietly Hostile is some deep, bittersweet experiences she takes on with her family and with health. Of course she builds humor and self deprecation in, but appreciated her returning to some of these topics as she had in the past. Plus, she talks about writing for the Sex and the City reboot, but also highlights the cruelty writers/artists face online from fans. Definitely a great continuation of her style.

A collection of often gross and/or hilarious essays, so it's classic Irby!

This time around Irby shares her love for Dave Matthews and Sex and the City in extreme detail that kind of made me scratch my head. I mean, we're talking about breaking down lyrics from a ton of DMB songs, breaking down an obscene amount of scenes from the OG SaTC series... obviously there's some hilarious observations here but I had to skim after I was 10+ pages into these obsessions.

She's still discussing IBS, healthcare, ageing, and plenty of relevant topics in awkward detail that leaves me cackling.

Thanks to Vintage and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Quietly Hostile: Essays is scheduled for release on May 16, 2023.

Another Samanatha Irby book? I like it!

I've read all of Samantha's books to-date. So, of course, I jumped at the chance to read Quietly Hostile early. The best way to enjoy her books are via audiobook. Which she narrates herself. Samantha Irby is entirely too relatable at times. And a little too self-deprecating at other times. The crudeness is usually funny. Until it's not. She always seems to take it over whatever imaginary limit I seem to have. And then it becomes cringe to the point of constant eye rolling.

In Quietly Hostile, Samantha talks about the last few years dealing with the pandemic (she's the only person I have broken my 'no books dealing with the pandemic' rule for), marriage, parenthood, middle-aged problems, and trying to advance her writing career; all while weaving in her personal brand of humor. We really could have done without all the Sex and The City stuff, though. I really dislike that show.

Despite my personal dislikes, I did enjoy the book and I'm glad I picked it up. And I'll be looking forward to whatever Samantha writes next.

Samantha Irby continues to bring fantastic storytelling and humor to her newest essay collection Quietly Hostile. The skunk on the cover and the title are just perfection. This collection is a nice mix of both almost blog-ish posts about what was going on with her life, particular during COVID, and just hilarious musings. A few of the essays discuss her writing for television- I knew she was a writer on the Sex and the City sequel and she writes about the experience a bit, but mostly goes back to classic SATC episodes and rewrites them as she'd like. What I found more interesting was her experience of writing a pilot for her first essay collection Meaty (hilarious- read if you haven't). I remember when that collection was optioned for TV and I kept waiting to hear about it, and it was illuminating to see how the writing was going and how the show fell apart. Other quirky, Irby-esque essays include her list of top Dave Matthews Band songs, recounting having an allergic reaction while on the toilet and fearing she'd die like Elvis (wouldn't be an Irby collection without poop humor), and counting all the ways she would be a fantastic party guest. Please read this- Irby is such a joy, and if you haven't read her 3 other collections, do so!

Thank you to Vintage Anchor via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

QUIETLY HOSTILE is a collection of essays, centered on current experiences and topics.

I've had a goal to read more nonfiction and received this book. The author, Samantha Irby, is relatable in many ways—writing about things we might all be thinking about in our post-pandemic lives. Reading about the pandemic experience is still rough for me.

Her topics are easily relatable, and I found myself nodding my head or smiling at different moments. But my preference is to avoid profanity when reading—for me, dropping f-bombs and other swearing is not what I enjoy, and this book is full of them. I didn't personally relate to the deep dive into Irby's favorite music or analysis of porn.

With those things in mind, it's safe to say that I'm not the perfect target audience. The essays were a bit hit and miss if I fully resonated with the topic or not. But you get a good handle on Samantha Irby.

I recommend this book to nonfiction readers and fans of Samantha Irby.

Happy reading!

Samantha Irby is funny. I enjoyed her essays for the most part though one of the sexual and really forthcoming bits were a bit much for me, which is saying something because I’m a pretty open minded gal. I just can’t read about diarrhea over and over. I’m sort of reminded of some episodes around poop in Tiffany haddish’s memoir. Anyway her waxing poetically over Dave matthews; her “i like it” essays were of my faves here. People who liked Irbys prior essays and like raunch will enjoy this one.

Samantha Irby did it again! Another wonderful collection of essays that kept me giggling the whole book through (although as someone who doesn’t watch Sex and the City, I did skip that essay in the middle), and made me so grateful that we have Irby’s unflinching take on all the weird, gross, normal but we never talk about it elements that make up being a human being.

What is there to say about Samantha Irby? She is incredibly funny and you either know that or you need to pick up one of her books and find out. In her latest essay collection, she takes on pandemic living, a severe allergic reaction, how to relate to the youths of today and walks through classic Sex and the City episodes and describes how’d she “ruin” them.

It is a delight from beginning to end!

Midway through 2020 when it felt like the world was a dumpster fire, Samantha Irby's essay collection Wow, No Thank You had me in stitches as I listened. Her dry, sarcastic voice brought even more humor to her words, and I loved it.

With her newest collection, Quietly Hostile, I didn't find myself devouring it quite as quickly, and I think it was the audio narration I was missing. Don't get me wrong, Irby is still certainly funny in her slice-of-life essays, sharing her perspective as a queer Black woman living in the Midwest, but I didn't find this collection quite as memorable or compelling. I think part of the problem was her two very lengthy deep-dives into niche obsessions, Dave Matthews Band and Sex and the City. While I've watched all of SATC multiple times, and thus appreciated all her reminiscing, it still drug on longer than I'd hoped. And for the DMB essay, I was completely lost.

Still, I chuckled thoroughly throughout this collection and find her straightforward no holds barred storytelling (with its fair share of poop and sex talk) to feel intimate in a way that a conversation with a close, hilarious friend would be. I'll plan on listening to any future works I read of hers, but still enjoyed this quite a lot.

3.5 stars

Thanks to Vintage Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I have to be honest - I didn’t love this and I’m incredibly disappointed about that. I’m not sure if it’s partly my own fault because I listened to the audiobooks of all of Irby’s other books and chose a print copy for this, which is definitely a different experience, but for whatever reason this one didn’t resonate with me at all.

There were a few stand out essays, but a lot of them felt like filler fluff. I think a good part of what I liked about her other work is how unflinchingly honest she is. And while she still was to an extent in this collection, it’s about unimportant and frankly boring topics.

I still partially enjoyed reading this because I genuinely like Irby’s writing style and humor. I just wish this had the same heart as her earlier works.

Thank you to Vintage Anchor and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

2.5/5

First of her books for me. To be honest I was just not amused.
Repetitive, and banal. Felt like a stand up comic writing down their poor performance.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing this ARC.

I was given this book on NetGalley and Libro Fm in exchange for a review.

Always a good time with Samantha though I fear she may be running out of things to say in essay format? I hope she gets the chance to write more TV though and it was nice to get the behind the scenes view of what goes into making (or not making) a TV show.

I almost shit myself (Samantha Irby pun not intended) when I received a copy of this book, so, thanks, NetGalley!

Quietly Hostile was a bit different from Irby's previous works, but no less enjoyable, so only proceed if you enjoy reading about trash humans. While true to her essay format, many of her essays read more like her blog, more commentary than a true essay. But don't worry because I swooned and cried when I realized the woman had an entire chapter dedicated to Dave Matthews songs. Some reviewers have said the "Sex and the City" chapter was too long. Those people are wrong. Because if you have watched Sex and the City as much as Irby and clearly, I, have then you would know exactly what she is talking about and what outfits Carrie was wearing and you would find it perfect. I will forgive that she hates Mr. Big, but I think I'm an outlier. But, the best part was the chapter with Irby discussing nun porn, 'nuf said. *chef's kiss*

I love Samantha Irby. I love her humor and willingness to put it all out there while acknowledging that she does, in fact, care what other people think. She is a treasure in this Instagram-filtered world. I did not love this collection for a very specific reason - too much emphasis on bodily fluids. One essay devoted to bathroom humor I can handle, but it seemed to be everywhere. I recognize that this is my own hold-up, though, so it shouldn't detract from the experience of other readers. It's also part of Irby's lived experience as a person with chronic illness. Overall, while this isn't my favorite of her essay collections, it still has enough of her candidness and self-deprecating humor to be good.

I love Samantha Irby’s writing. So much so that I was prepared to sell my soul to whomever could get me an advanced copy of this book. Was it worth the cost of my eternal life- not really. This book was a little too much and then not quite enough for me. I was disappointed that Irby seemed to be reaching so hard to tell the truth that parts of the book seemed wholly fake. She is known for being crass and vulgar- why do you think I like her so much? But for a reader who is rarely shocked or offended by anything, there were passages in this book that left me looking like the eyes-bulging emoji they were SO offensive. Will I read Irby’s next book? More than likely. I just won’t trade a kidney to get my hands on an advanced copy next time.

This book is not for me. I really tried, but I find Samantha crass. She swears a lot, which seems like lazy writing, and uses multiple exclamation marks. I think (I hope) she is exaggerating and trying to be self-deprecating, otherwise she is either an ugly looser, or someone who dislikes herself so much that she really needs therapy. Or maybe I just don't care about the kind of porn she thinks is best. every story seems to involve discussing how weak her bladder is. What tipped me in to DNF territory was the essay that went through every sex and the city article and rewrote them.
The thing is, I found a lot of her stories very nearly funny and / or poignant, so maybe the problem was that my sense of humour failed to mesh with hers.