Full disclosure, I haven't read this one yet. But I love Byer in her many, many forms so I know I'll love this book too. You might remember Girltalk, you know and love Nailed It, you love her as the postal worker in the Good Place, you might love one of her billion podcasts, like Why Won't You Date Me?, you've watched Loosely Exactly Nicole, Her standup is also on Netflix, and I had the joy of seeing her live when she came through Columbia. She has a bit about being fat that I feel like jives with this book pretty well. It's actually her OPENING joke in her Comedians of the World 30-minute set. Warning, she is RAUNCHY.
Plus, with a cover like this it's hard to resist!
The full title is:#VERYFAT #VERYBRAVE: The Fat Girl's Guide to Being #Brave and Not a Dejected, Melancholy, Down-in-the-Dumps Weeping Fat Girl in a Bikini.
Here's what she says about being fat, in her intro:
"I wanted to write a book about fat ladies--because I am one. Not curvy, not plus-size, not big-boned, not fluffy, not phat. I'm FAT. I am a fat lady who loves wearing bikinis. Which is #verybrave in our culture today. I realized this was #brave when I saw other fat women posting pictures in bikinis on Instagram, and people in the comments section went wild and were using that word: "brave." I never thought wearing an article of clothing that everyone wears to swim or sunbathe in was "brave," but as my dad always said, "If someone says something more than once in Instagram comments, it must be true." He died in 2008 so it's wild that he was truly so ahead of his time."
This isn't Byer's memoir, she just truly wants "a little fat girl to see this book and feel better about herself. Before anyone says it: no, I am NOT glorifying an unhealthy lifestyle. I'm purely asking people to just be okay with how they currently look. I'm asking for people to leave others alone in regard to how they look, because it's not your fucking business. Also, I'm not promoting unhealthiness. If you're sick, please go to the doctor."
The book has pictures of her in her hundred bikinis and she is truly the cutest dang thing. We love Nicole Byer. We support Nicole Byer, financially. We pay money to Black bookstores. Today, we pay money to Black Stone Bookstore and Cultural Center by clicking right here: https://www.blackstonebookstore.com/book/9781524850746
Post-script: I was thinking about how so many books that make the best-selling list are about black pain, or rip you up inside about how much it sucks to be a black person in America at any moment of, you know, America. These are important books that we need to read. Comfort is a luxury. But also, my friend Patrice shared this tweet.
So here's a happy Black book by a happy fat Black lady.