Jenny Slate

This book is emotional murder.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

I was born in the stacks in the Columbia University Library. I was born in shin-guards on a soccer field on a chilly little Saturday morning in the 1980s and I was too scared to even feel the sting of the ball on the inside of my shoe. I was born during tennis. I was born as a backyard swimming pool and my twin sister is an orange Popsicle and my mother is a bowl of pickles and my father is show more a hamburger.
("I Was Born: The List")

I think, Well, I am so sensitive and I am very fragile but so is everything else, and living with a dangerous amount of sensitivity is sort of what I have to do sometimes, and it is so very much better than living with no gusto at all. And I’d rather live with a tender heart, because that is the key to feeling the beat of all of the other hearts.
("Kinship")

There was a time before Patriarchy.
We have a better origin story and it is not widely spoken about but it is the truth.
("The Code of Hammurabi")

Y'all. I can't even tell you how much I wanted to review Little Weirds using nothing but Mona-Lisa Saperstein gifs. Alas, Jenny Slate is nothing like Jean Ralphio's sister from the same mister, and most of said gifs are totes wrong for this review. But I have to get them out of my system, so. Let's just dive right in, shall we?

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(Note to self: It's about time for your annual Parks & Rec rewatch. Your emotions are in serious need of fortification.)

Prior to discovering Little Weirds on Edelweiss (at which point I legit let out a little squeal and did a happy happy butt dance on my office chair), my knowledge about actor/comedian Jenny Slate could be summed up thusly: 1) she portrayed Mona-Lisa Saperstein with brilliance and aplomb on one of my all-time favorite sitcoms, Parks & Recreation (for reals, I even dedicated a whole VeganMoFo to it!); 2) she dated everyone's favorite Chris (Evans, duh!); she's Jewish; and 4) she's been at the receiving end of some really gross antisemitism, on account of nos 1-3, i.e., being a Jewish lady who played a Jewish lady and also dated literal Captain America while Jewish, and also because our country is a dumpster fire of white nationalism and toxic masculinity.

I started to type "But I digress...," and then it hit me that this isn't a digression at all; Slate does touch upon some of these issues, however tangentially, in Little Weirds. But mostly the subject matter is so very much stranger, ethereal, and curious than this. In a word, weird.

As the synopsis promises, inside this book you will find: The smell of honeysuckle; heartbreak; a French-kissing rabbit; a haunted house; Death; a vagina singing sad old songs; young geraniums in an ancient castle; Birth; a dog who appears in dreams as a spiritual guide; divorce; electromagnetic energy fields; emotional horniness; and the ghost of a sea captain.

You can also look forward to: gossip; an old dog who flits in and out of each essay like a specter, or a faithful friend; a tragic accident involving a deer and a tennis court; emotional emptiness; metaphors galore; whimsy and sorrow; a cage match between optimism and cynicism; aliens; alienation; letters; prophecies, or maybe wishes; being mansplained to death; terminology from the 1920s ("peepers"! I love it!); and a pit (oh, how I want for this to be a throwback to Parks & Rec!).

Basically, I cannot think of a book with a more perfectly fitting title than Little Weirds. This quirky collection of essays is simply enchanting. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and - before you even know what's happening - you'll find yourself delving into some deep and scary, long-hidden and even liberating places. Some of these essays are prescient AF, and sneakily so. Like, ending this collection with "I Died: Bronze Tree," followed by "Dog Paw," is emotional murder.

"I died and I have to move on soon, but I will always be so glad for the life I had with you. The fact is that it is incredibly hard to RIP and I’m just not sure I can get it done. Because what will I be now? I know that we will have new life with new forms and that we won’t be able to love each other like we did the last time. Maybe I am going to be a banana and you will be a car. It just won’t work. I know that. And I’m not one to beg for the impossible, especially as a banana, but I can’t seem to stop reacting to the enormity of the final end of us, sweetheart."

I feel personally attacked.

Little Weirds is the kind of book best devoured in small bites. You'll find yourself offering the book a permanent, cozy home by your bedside; lovingly bookmarking certain chapters, so that you can return to them after an especially excruciating day, or perhaps those nights when you foresee a challenging week ahead. Kind of like the literary equivalent of keeping Parks & Rec (and The Office, Schitt's Creek, and The Good Place) on your Netflix list even though you've watched them a dozen times by now.

In short, you should give Jenny Slate all your money please.

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I did it! I worked a Mona-Lisa gif in organically!

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http://www.easyvegan.info/2019/11/26/little-weirds-by-jenny-slate/ show less

I really like Jenny Slate. Knowing that she's involved in a project means I'm more likely to want to see it, read it, listen to it, etc. Of course when I first heard of Lifeform, I knew without a doubt, I would pick it up - or in this case, I would listen to the audiobook.

I like that Jenny Slate reads her own book, which seems like an obvious choice, but is not always the case with memoirs. It's like just having a conversation with a friend - albeit one-sided conversation - but that's how show more much I was drawn into the book.

Let's be honest, there is not really any shortage of books about motherhood - which I am in no way complaining about - but I felt like this was one I could personally relate to the most.

The oft-absurd thoughts that just pop into your head out of nowhere. Or all the things you worry about and wish you could just write your doctor a letter. I think these feelings are heightened by new motherhood so the dialogue Jenny Slate has throughout made a lot of sense to me. Even when it felt like she was going off on a tangent, somehow by the end of the chapter she'd bring everything back around in a poignant way.

The story is also an interesting conceptualization of birth in the cycle of life and kind of honoring those who came before.

It's a quick listen that you could probably finish within a day or two. I'm definitely going to be picking up a hardcopy of the book - although upon rereading I'll probably end up hearing Jenny Slate's voice in my ear the whole time! show less

There are few books that I would want to read again and again for the sheer pleasure of it. This is one of them. The only drawbacks are that Jenny Slate dislikes horses and her deep self has a thing for monochromatic outfits (-what is that about?). That aside, she opens up in a way that is sometimes startling and occasionally borderline TMI, but her courage and vulnerability invite the reader to get to know her as a close friend might. From that vantage point we can share her delight, her show more frustrations, and her insights -all of which shine with wit and humor. It's good to be reminded to embrace and protect "all the little weirds that make up who you are." show less

I really enjoy humorous essay collections, especially when they are written by a favorite celebrity of mine. (Mindy Kaling for the win). I’m a fan of Jenny Slate’s acting and stand up specials, so I was eager to read her collection. ⁣
When one of the sentences in a book reads “I was born during the great Potato Chip, in the time of Jewish Deli Tongue Sandwich”, it gives you a good indication of what the rest of the book will be like. Here is Jenny imagining herself as a croissant, show more and now a singing vagina, then to wistful descriptions of her favorite flower and honest musings about her loneliness. This type of prose, which can be equal parts deeply poetic and deeply odd, reminded me of Chuck Palahniuk, and I can see how it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It made me reflect on some of the weird dreams and thoughts I myself have had, and how I’ve kept those types of thoughts to myself because I’m afraid of what others may think. Thanks to Jenny, I have the courage to be more open about my own “little weirds”. show less