Truth Is Funnier Than Fiction

Right after I graduated college, I realized my deteriorating health meant that I wouldn’t be able to do that job I’d been training for. In that mourning process, I discovered Jenny Lawson. In her first memoir Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson describes her quirky family, sharing stories about her dad’s obsession with taxidermy and her husband’s baptism by fire sort of introduction to her family. She strikes the perfect balance between describing the challenges she’s faced and the beautiful parts of life that make it all worth it. Lawson is both chronically and mentally ill, and she weaves that experience throughout her memoir and her following book, Furiously Happy and Broken (in the Best Possible Way). Reading about her wild family and the everyday things in life that brought her joy helped me process my own chronic illness and realize that, even though there are a lot of difficult things that we all experience as human beings, there’s also so much joy out there.

When I discovered Samantha Irby’s essays, I knew almost immediately that I had discovered a new-to-me favorite writer. Irby’s essays are both hilarious and emotionally impactful. Like Lawson, Irby has an incredible talent of using humor as a way to process the difficult things in her life. She first started writing as a blogger, sharing everything from takes on TV shows to fashion critiques, all with her incredible narrative voice. I especially appreciate her perspective as someone with chronic illness. There’s a certain kind of dark humor that thrives in our communities that I can never get enough of. While We Are Never Meeting in Real Life is my favorite, I also love Meaty and Wow, No Thank You. Whichever collection you choose, you are sure to have a good time!