I Hate Myselfie: A Collection of Essays
By Shane Dawson Book Review by Miranda Moses (Fraser) ISBN: 978-1-4767-9154-8 Oh, this one... This was the book I was most terrified to review. Shane Dawson is one of THE most subscribed youtubers on the platform. He is funny and caring and in recent years REALLY grown into who he is as a person. He no longer relies on horrid comedy and shock value humor that was so popular back in the day. And as someone who has watched his videos since day one, I can really attest to that, and how much of the real Shane we've been allowed to see. (I would have been about 15 when he started on youtube, so yeah it's been a long time) This book was written before he came out about his sexuality, opened up about mental problems/body dysmorphia, and before he changed the style of humor he presented to audiences. I can't stress that enough. I was scared to review this book because, while I didn't hate it, I also didn't love it. And I'm hesitant to even recommend it to my audience. BUT I don't want insane fans sending me hate. I do love Shane, but this book could have been better. AND I'm hopeful that his second book is better. Now, for starters these are a lot of older stories, some of which he has directly shared in vlogs and videos over the years. On one hand it brought a sense of familiarity for me, being a long time viewer. On the other hand it reminded me how far he's come as an influencer. I would find myself laughing at some of his jokes and knowing that this was the humor for the time. But I kept thinking this is NOT a book for children and I'm sure he has a lot of young viewers watching him and reading this book. Some of the stories were wholesome and necessary to understanding Shane... while others were just 'hilarious' stories he threw in there with exaggerated language. Continuing that thought I really want to stress the language used in this book. There is a lot of foul language and CRUDE humor. This is an example of the exaggerated language/sense of humor being used in this book, "One day she came up to me with an idea I knew was bad from the second it left her d*ck-suckin' lips." So parent's please be aware of the kind of stories you kids may be reading if you okay this book. AGAIN I am not trying to bash on Shane Dawson, I will always enjoy his content and love who he has become, but I look back at 15 year old me and wonder how I laughed so hard at some of his content.... but then again we all thought Dane Cook was funny back then too. *Shrugs* I guess we grow more than we think over the years. AND to be fair Shane is very honest that his sense of humor is juvenile and shocking (despite saying he's not a shocktuber). In the end, read this with an open mind if you so decide to continue. There is a lot of good surrounded by this 2008 shock humor. There are also adorable drawings before each story that were done by fans and put into the book, which I think is really sweet. And if you've never heard of Shane Dawson before, maybe don't use this as an example of who he is. He's come a long way. I think we all have whether or not we want to admit it. Read on my fellow book worms, may we one day have Belle's library. And as always links to the author's pages can be found below.
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October 2020
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