It gets worse : a collection of essays

Title:

Author:

Dawson, Shane, 1988- author.

ISBN:

9781501132841

Personal Author:

Dawson, Shane, 1988- author.

Edition:

First Keywords Press/Atria paperback paperback edition.

Publication Information:

New York : Keywords Press/Atria, 2016.

Physical Description:

237 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 22 cm

Contents:

It gets worse: an introduction -- 2 a.m. -- Best buddies -- The lottery -- Chub rub -- Friends without benefits -- Word vomit -- My craigslist hookup -- The white bus -- Welcome to Mexico -- Too many melons: the story of Lauren Schnipper -- The tale of Big Lady Bertha -- The ghost of my grandma -- Human trash -- Mom's chapter: the night that changed our lives.

Personal Subject:

Dawson, Shane, 1988-

Subject Term:

Comedians -- United States -- Biography.

Actors -- United States -- Biography.

Conduct of life -- Humor.

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Humor.

Essays.

Document ID:

SD_ILS:2245876

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Collection	Collection	Call Number	Status
Searching... Tehachapi Branch Library (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Adult Non-Fiction	792.7028092 Dawson Sha	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Woodward Park Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Biography Area	DAWSON SH Daw	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

New York Times bestselling author, director, actor, and YouTube superstar Shane Dawson returns with another highly entertaining and uproariously funny essay collection, chronicling a mix of real life moments both extraordinary and mortifying, yet always full of heart.

Shane Dawson shared some of his best and worst experiences in I Hate Myselfie, the critically acclaimed book that secured his place as a gifted humorist and keen observer of millennial culture. Fans felt as though they knew him after devouring the New York Times , Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times , and Wall Street Journal bestseller. They were right... almost.

In this new collection of original personal essays, Shane goes even deeper, sharing never-before-revealed stories from his life, giving readers a no-holds-barred look at moments both bizarre and relatable, from cult-like Christian after-school activities, dressing in drag, and losing his virginity, to hiring a psychic, clashes with celebrities, and coming to terms with his bisexuality. Every step of the way, Shane maintains his signature brand of humor, proving that even the toughest breaks can be funny when you learn to laugh at yourself.

This is Let's Pretend This Never Happened and Running With Scissors for the millennial generation: an inspiring, intelligent, and brutally honest collection of true stories by a YouTube sensation-turned one of the freshest new voices out there.

Author Notes

Shane Dawson was born on July 19, 1988 in Long Beach, California. He is a director, actor, comedian, musician, YouTube vlogger, and author. I Hate Myselfie: A Collection of Essays was his first book and a bestseller. His second book, It Gets Worse: A Collection of Essays, has also reached the bestseller's list.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Popular YouTube personality Dawson (I Hate Myselfie) exhibits his signature brand of twisted humor and neuroses in his second volume of personal essays. A number of these trace his artistic and professional development from a high school video project to a sobering experience filming his first feature film for a reality show and dealing with eviscerating reviews. He frankly discusses the journey to accepting his bisexuality, beginning in kindergarten with simultaneous crushes on the pretty blonde girl and the spiky-haired bullying boy. This journey is fraught with sadness, as when he describes his tendency to "fill the void... with food and other addictions," and comedy, as he takes a trip down the rabbit hole of hook-up apps. His self-deprecating and outrageous humor is hit or miss, but at its best it deserves comparison to David Sedaris, whether he's writing, "I'm the opposite of a party animal. I'm a funeral person" or recalling wearing a flamboyant T-shirt on the first day of middle school and boarding a Bible study bus for the free candy. A story about ending up at the Mexican border after a wrong turn, however, is completely unfunny and entirely lacks the drama he tries to manufacture. This decent if lopsided second effort from a writer still finding his voice should satisfy Dawson's previously established fans. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

He's baaack. YouTube vlogger Dawson returns with a second collection of autobiographical essays (following I Hate Myselfie, 2015). His many fans (his YouTube channel has more than seven million subscribers) will enjoy his musings about his life from childhood, when he was morbidly obese, to his latter-day celebrity as a slimmed-down TV reality star and film director. The 13 essays collected here are a mixed bag; most, rooted in self-deprecation and hyperbole, are humorous, but some are quite moving. In one, he encounters the ghost of his beloved grandmother; in another, he records the bittersweet experience of producing his first public video; in yet another, wrestling with his sexuality he has come out as bisexual he tries to engineer his first sexual encounter with a male met on Craigslist; and, in the most personal of his essays, he records his five-year struggle with bulimia. When all is said and done, how funny are these essays? On a humor scale of 1 to 10, 1 being meh and 10 being a hoot, Dawson's essays earn a solid 7.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2016 Booklist

Excerpts

It Gets Worse It Gets Worse: An Introduction Excerpted from It Gets Worse: A Collection of Essays by Shane Dawson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.