Shrill is a hilarious and poignant memoir about Lindy West’s experiences with sexism, work, dating, the internet, and being overweight. She has an incredibly strong authorial voice that makes the book so enjoyable to read. She is confident and strong, and it makes her an immediate role model to female readers.
I’ve been reading lots of feminist essays, memoirs, and novels lately, and each one offers me some new information or realization. I think reading books on the topic gives a strong written voice to the thoughts and experiences I and so many other women have had.
This particular book is based on Lindy’s own personal and relatable experiences. Some deal with sexism, some with childhood and motherhood, many with fatness, and life as a self-professed fat and confident woman. They deal with online trolls and abuse, with being a female comedian, with social interactions. Every single experience and how Lindy dealt with them had me cracking up or reflecting on similar memories.
It’s a short book, it’s meaningful, it’s important. Experiences and perspectives like Lindy’s need to be told. Young women and older women alike can use a role model like her who proudly and decisively labels herself as fat, as a comedian, as a feminist, and shows that all of these are good and acceptable things to be. She gives a voice to every writer who’s been violently harassed online, every woman who’s been labeled as unattractive, everyone with an unconventional love story, every young girl who wants to make it as a comedian.
Lindy is my new favorite, and her book is fabulous. And everyone should probably read it. It’s one of the most honest, raw, and funny things I’ve read in a very long time. And it deals with such important topics. People who read this will leave it more informed, enlightened, and prepared to be loud and confident.
