Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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A humorous and insightful exhortation

The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell by W. Kamau Bell

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Cbr11bingo Listicles (From Roxane Gay Book Recommendations) Bingo #8 The full title of this book is The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6’4”, African-American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmantic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian. And all of that detailed identity is covered in this collection of funny, provocative, thoughtful essays that are part memoir and part cultural/political commentary. I have to admit that the only thing I knew about Bell before reading these essays is that he […]

But why did the font keep changing?

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W. Kamau Bell is someone whose name I immediately recognized but I couldn’t place him in a single thing I had actually seen. I didn’t have FX when Totally Biased was on in 2012 and I once again don’t have cable so I haven’t seen (or, honestly, heard of) United Shades of America on CNN but I knew the name so I picked up the book. Awkward Thoughts is a pretty good balance between humor and seriousness. It is mostly a collection of essays that loosely tie together to create a […]

When Roxane Gay tells you to read a memoir, do you really have a choice?

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“People assume that I have a degree in poli-sci and that I decided to become a comedian just because that was the best way to spread my message. It’s the same way for my dad too. He seems like he has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School, but he really only graduated from Spring Hill College in Mobile. For all three of us, people assume that because we have the information, we must have pieces of paper that certify us as smart. […]

Decent Memoir / Essay Collection

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Best for: Fans of decent memoir writing. In a nutshell: Comedian and political commentator offers some insight into his perspective on life. Line that sticks with me: “If there’s one thing that I learned from both of my parents, it is that you don’t need the paper to get the information.” (p33) Why I chose it: The cover and subtitle (”Tales of a 6’4”, African-American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian”) Review: I’m trying to figure out […]

Awkward dudes are awkward

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Let’s get this much out of the way: though it figures into the title, W. Kamau Bell does not address his asthma in this book. If you were reading the title and twigged on that word, there’s very little here for you. It’s a shame, really, because Bell thoughtfully addresses pretty much everything else and I might have been interested to know what he had to say on the topic, especially given the high incidence of asthma in African Americans. I can only wonder what […]



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