Review: Sh*t, Actually by Lindy West
Last Thanksgiving, we were with Nick’s family and a snow storm hit. I desperately needed to get back to NYC in time for an audition. My flight was canceled, the roads were terrible, but I jumped into a rental car and made my way 1,000.
Short story? It was miserable and I cried and had to stop at a hotel for the night before waking up at 4am and finishing the drive.
BUT I listened to Lindy West’s book, The Witches Are Coming, from start to finish and really liked it! So I was really excited when Sh*t, Actually came out, especially to listen on audio again.
Synopsis: “In Shit, Actually, Lindy returns to those roots, re-examining beloved and iconic movies from the past 40 years with an eye toward the big questions of our time: Is Twilight the horniest movie in history? Why do the zebras in The Lion King trust Mufasa-WHO IS A LION-to look out for their best interests? Why did anyone bother making any more movies after The Fugitive achieved perfection? And, my god, why don't any of the women in Love, Actually ever fucking talk?!?!
From Forrest Gump, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Bad Boys II, to Face/Off, Top Gun, and The Notebook, Lindy combines her razor-sharp wit and trademark humor with a genuine adoration for nostalgic trash to shed new critical light on some of our defining cultural touchstones-the stories we've long been telling ourselves about who we are. At once outrageously funny and piercingly incisive, Shit, Actually reminds us to pause and ask, "How does this movie hold up?", all while teaching us how to laugh at the things we love without ever letting them or ourselves off the hook.
Shit, Actually is a love letter and a break-up note all in one: to the films that shaped us and the ones that ruined us. More often than not, Lindy finds, they're one and the same.”
What I Liked:
The Format—It was fun to revisit some movies through Lindy’s eyes. it made me think of a few things differently, especially when it came to Love, Actually and Forrest Gump!
The Rating System—Lindy’s rating system, based on The Fugitive, was an awesome running joke through the book.
The Humor—It was nice to laugh along with Lindy, especially because she wrote this book with the intention of bringing some laughs during the pandemic.
What Didn’t Work
Honestly my only issue with this book is that I hadn’t seen a lot of the films mentioned. The chapters that were the most engaging for the ones for the movies I’d seen. So, that’s a me problem, no a book problem!
TW/CW: Language, mentions of racism, mentions of violence, mentions of sexual assault
Character Authenticity: N/A Steam Rating: N/A Overall Rating: 3.9
Thank you to Libro.fm for my copy of Sh*t, Actually. All opinions are my own.