Author: Samantha Irby
Publisher: Vintage Anchor
Rating: 4 stars
Read: February 2023
Far Flung Readers was grateful to receive an ARC of Quietly Hostile in exchange for an honest review! Big thank you to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor.
The Review
I love Samantha Irby. I’ve read all of her published essay collections except for Meaty (I KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME). I read her Judge Mathis newsletter religiously (the show is being canceled and I don’t want to talk about it). I repost her fire memes on Instagram. I’m a fan.
Irby’s new essay collection, Quietly Hostile, is another collection of cuttingly funny reflections on the agony of being alive. I love how she’s able to bring humor into any situation, even the bleak ones.
I found Quietly Hostile to be a stellar group of essays about writing for TV, dealing with aging, and dangerous encounters with the emergency room. As with any essay collection, some pieces are stronger than others. Some pieces felt vaguely familiar. I think there are some similar essays in her previous collections.
However, there are no bad essays in this book. I didn’t really enjoy the Sex & the City essay, but that’s my own problem because I’ve never seen the show.
Irby always knows how to make me laugh out loud while reading, and I love her for it. I highly recommend Quietly Hostile to any readers who loved Irby’s previous collections. You’ll enjoy this one, too.
The Book
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