Samantha Irby has written the perfect book for this moment, and she knows it
"Hey, I know you're locked inside your house. I know the dog and the cat are fighting each other. I know that you're going to get divorced in two weeks because you didn't know you were going to be trapped with your partner, literally, and you realize that you hate them. But please buy this book!"
As good a sales pitch as any, right?
Samantha Irby (We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Meaty) knows it's a weird time to be promoting a book. But she also knows she was uniquely made for this moment. After all, this is the author who just a few years ago published the essay, "A Case for Remaining Indoors." She continues to mine life's ridiculous mundanities for laughs in her new book, Wow, No Thank You (out Tuesday), beginning by detailing her "disgusting" version of a lifestyle-blog feature, complete with noon wakeups, knocking back a half dozen Diet Cokes a day, and sad attempts at alkalization. ("I no longer have a pelvic floor, Jennifer Aniston. I cannot just be gulping down Smartwater with reckless abandon!"
Life, as a whole, proves gloriously absurd: the gastrointestinal consequences of a night on the town, the unexpected horrors of getting a dog, the sheer tragedy of a restaurant not having online delivery so you have to talk on the phone. Irby can never make fun of herself enough, which is good news for us: Her misery makes for great company.
Ted Beranis; Vintage
She might be the funniest essayist around right now, and is a New York Times best-selling author. This week, she joins EW for a special virtual 92Y in-conversation event. In the in-depth discussion, Irby touches how she's getting through the era of self-isolation (she's kind of an expert), the success she's enjoyed in her career thus far, and much more. She'll also read a selection from Wow, No Thank You. It's the first of a new Talks series for which EW is partnering with 92Y, and is set to go live Tuesday at 5 p.m. EST. (Watch an exclusive clip above.)
The book covers several topics people around the world are no doubt contending with in quarantine. "Hopefully people will read it and go, 'You know, I'm okay,'" Irby cracks. "There's a person over there who can't walk to the mailbox on her own house without being crippled with anxiety. So I'm doing alright!"
She concludes, a bit more earnestly, "Maybe it's a hopeful book for people who are less anxious than I am."
We think so. Watch a clip of our discussion above, and be sure to look out for the book and episode to drop on Tuesday. Wow, No Thank You is available for pre-order.
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