The Wisconsin Book Festival presents an afternoon with Samantha Irby, author of Quietly Hostile. In conversation with Lindy West.
Samantha Irby’s career has taken her to new heights. She dodges calls from Hollywood and flop sweats on the red carpet at premieres (well, one premiere). But nothing is ever as it seems online, where she can crop out all the ugly parts.
Irby got a lot of weird emails about Carrie Bradshaw, and not only is there diarrhea to avoid, but now—anaphylactic shock. She is turned away from restaurants for being inappropriately dressed and looks for the best ways to cope, i.e., reveling in the offerings of QVC and adopting a deranged pandemic dog. Quietly Hostile makes light as Irby takes us on another outrageously funny tour of all the gory details that make up the true portrait of a life behind the screenshotted depression memes. Relatable, poignant, and uproarious, once again, Irby is the tonic we all need to get by.
From the Booklist starred review: “At her comic best… Don't be fooled, though—there's tons of emotional depth hidden under the layers of comedy…. Irby's many fans, and anyone whose anxiety and hermit-like qualities ramped up during the pandemic, will celebrate and identify with her latest.”
Samantha Irby is a writer whose work you can find on the internet. She is the author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life., Meaty, and Wow, No Thank You.