Scaachi Koul

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: The long-awaited follow-up from one of the most original and hilarious voices writing today.

Scaachi Koul’s first book was a collection of raw, perceptive, and hilarious essays reckoning with the issues of race, body image, love, friendship, and growing up the daughter of immigrants. When the time came to start writing her next book, Scaachi assumed she’d be updating her story with essays about her elaborate four-day wedding, settling down to domestic show more bliss, and continuing her never-ending arguments with her parents. Instead, the Covid pandemic hit, the world went into lockdown, Scaachi’s marriage fell apart, she lost her job, and her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

Sucker Punch is about what happens when the life you thought you’d be living radically changes course, everything you thought you knew about the world and yourself has tilted on its axis, and you have to start forging a new path forward. Scaachi employs her signature humor and fierce intelligence to interrogate her previous belief that fighting is the most effective tool for progress. She examines the fights she’s had—with her parents, her ex-husband, her friends, online strangers, and herself—all in an attempt to understand when a fight is worth having, and when it's better to walk away.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Author Koul's funny. Not innocently amusing, funny. She's written before this (One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter) about her immigrant-to-Canada parents and her ongoing battles with their traditional expectations versus her Canadian ones. She had, then, a bit about her elaborate wedding...now it's about her pandemic experience, her mother's health crisis, the collapse of her marriage after that astonishing wedding...and something that's never been dealt with in her life, let alone her prose, before: she was sexually assaulted.

I do not know, or know of, a single solitary woman who does not have a story about her body being at the minimum threatened with sexual violence. Reading about it is, it seems, a means of creating solidarity and permission to say out loud that it's happened to you, like the very public #MeToo movement that's been bringing crimes to light that men are just as glad to have swept under the rug.

A proper millennial, Author Koul does her level-best to spin these facts of her life as...not funny, really, but sources or wry humor as she goes about coping with her wounds from them. I think a lot of women love to read these stories as a way to get perspective on the pain in their own lives. I'm aware of the reality and the awfulness of abuse in intimate relationships. It's not fun, and I myownself am not a fan of it as a topic for humorous coping.

Her other coping mechanism is rage. Full-throated, loudly expressed rage. That one I know from the inside; I do not think it is beneficial, nor appropriate, to valorize is as Author Koul does, while using humor to defuse its painful and destructive consequences on everyone...literally everyone...around her.

This is from my own experience: Go get counseling. Stay in counseling the rest of your life. Nothing will remove the rage. Work towards ways to minimize its footprint in your life, and the lives of those around you.

Three stars because it's trenchant and timely. show less

I’ve enjoyed Scaachi’s segments on This American Life, finding her charming and relatable without being too polished. That same down-to-earth vibe carries over into her writing. I didn’t read her first book, which might have given this one more impact, but it still lands. Her voice is whiny, but not in a grating way. It’s the kind that feels familiar, like how I might vent to my closest friends. She puts herself fully on the page, exposing her pain, fears, and insecurities so clearly show more that it’s impossible not to find some connection, even if our lives are vastly different. These essays follow her divorce, feeling significant as she works through tough experiences, and as a reader, I felt part of that. She doesn’t shy away from examining the rough edges of herself and others, offering little grace but plenty of honesty. She tackles heavy themes of racism, love, and mortality while maintaining a playful, tongue-in-cheek tone that keeps it engaging. It’s not groundbreaking, but a thoughtful, entertaining read that feels like spending time with a smart, funny, and slightly exasperated friend.

Thanks to my local independent bookseller for the ARC of this book. It’s out on March 4, 2025! show less

audiobook read by author (with quotes added by her father) biographical essays and observations from Canadian-born daughter of Indian immigrants

it seems like a lot of people had trouble relating to this author's experiences, but that's sort of the point. There is no "one experience" for all brown people, just as there's not one experience for all Canadians or Americans. The point is to get more of these diverse voices out there so that people can be more aware of this fact, and to help us show more build empathy with folks whose cultures are unfamiliar.

I strongly recommend the audio version; she's funny and it probably sets the tone better than the print version.

I did find the essay where she talks about "party culture" and getting roofied multiple times on different occasions to be eye-opening and important (horrifying, really), especially in light of current events. I would make every teen girl read it (and probably all genders, followed by an open discussion about consent, alcoholism, and alcohol-induced blackouts) if it would keep everyone safer. show less

I was hooked from the get go. Having just read Shrill and other memoirs by Jenny Lawson, Mindy Kaling, etc. this was the perfect fit for me. This memoir by Scaachi Koul, a first generation Indian immigrant living in Canada was heartfelt, hilarious, and impossible to put down. I read it in less than a day. I especially loved the stories about her parents and her zany yet loving, upbringing. I grew up close to a loving Indian family so I know a smidge about their culture, food, and festivals show more and Koul's stories took me back. Koul also talks about hard subjects like: rape, alcoholism, gender bias, growing up ethnic in a white neighborhood, and struggling with body image. Each chapter is filled with wit, wisdom, and lil' nuggets that will get you thinking. Definitely keeping around for a re-read. show less