Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman is a 2016 non-fiction book by American writer Lindy West. Favorably reviewed, Shrill was optioned as a television series, which premiered on Hulu in March 2019, starring Aidy Bryant.
I’m so slow to get to Lindy West’s excellent book “Shrill” that’s it’s already been made into a TV show. The book is SO GOOD. She’s smart, insightful, and so funny. And she has accomplished amazing things.
I tend to hang out online with people a lot younger than me and started reading their book recommendations. They speak a slightly different language than I do and so do the books they recommend. It's a language that I find alternately annoying and intimidating. It includes a type of humor I don't find funny and the idea that there's a correct way to "be a person" and references to people whom I never heard of. Note: One of the people I'd never heard of was the author herself and I was begining to think that put me outside the intended readership. I was pretty sure I would abandon this book pretty early on.
And yet, I didn't. Turns out I like who Lindy West is and agree with her about a whole lot. And some of the stuff really is funny. The whose section about her "fight" with Dan …
I tend to hang out online with people a lot younger than me and started reading their book recommendations. They speak a slightly different language than I do and so do the books they recommend. It's a language that I find alternately annoying and intimidating. It includes a type of humor I don't find funny and the idea that there's a correct way to "be a person" and references to people whom I never heard of. Note: One of the people I'd never heard of was the author herself and I was begining to think that put me outside the intended readership. I was pretty sure I would abandon this book pretty early on.
And yet, I didn't. Turns out I like who Lindy West is and agree with her about a whole lot. And some of the stuff really is funny. The whose section about her "fight" with Dan Savage (who I'd heard of) is worth reading all by itself.
Full disclosure: Like the author, I peed in my pants in school in the thrid grade because I was afraid to ask permission to go to the bathroom.
5 stars! There has never been a better cultural moment to read this wonderful book. Women are sick and tired of being sick and tired of structural sexism. We have been forced to witness the installation of a misogynist who likes to "grab 'em by the p*ssy" as Supreme Leader, despite the fact that America elected our first female president by a 3 million vote margin. We are ready to be ANGRY, and West voices that anger perfectly. She takes her title from the word most often used to voice women's anger: SHRILL. It's also hilarious. Together with "Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud," this is one of the most important books for all women -- and men -- to read right now.
Had a really great time with this book, and was frequently laughing aloud on the bus. The snark, the rawness, the time jumps, and the rest - it worked for me. Very glad I got an avenue to learn more about this person.
I wanted so badly to enjoy this book, but again, here I am not finishing a book because it just lost me. While I've enjoyed Lindy West in other venues, particularly on podcasts or in her editorial writing, I felt as if all of the stories in this book were the same thing. Unfortunately I made it about 1/4 of the way through and jut stopped.
