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Cack-Handed: A Memoir

Cack-Handed: A Memoir

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By this point, the reader has come to understand Yashere’s journey, thanks to the the variously entertaining, troubling, stories from her life, both professionally and personally, that she tells so engagingly and with more heart that comes through in her often hard-edged stand-up. Not me thinking I spaced out in the later half , only to relisten to this again to find out I didn't space out and it was infact how the book ended. 😂 Her journey, at least in its early stages, was, admittedly, a bit haphazard - but which comic’s isn’t? Yashere was a telecoms, and then lift, engineer with a passion for clubbing before falling into - and in love with - stand-up. Incredibly, Gina holds the title of being the first female engineer with the UK branch of Otis, the largest lift company in the world, where she went through a baptism of fire from her racist and sexist co-workers. Not believing her life was difficult enough, she later left engineering to follow her ambition of becoming a stand-up comic. The British comedian of Nigerian heritage and co-executive producer and writer of the CBS hit series Bob Hearts Abishola chronicles her odyssey to get to America and break into Hollywood in this lively and humorous memoir.

From birth, Gina carried a similar birthmark – a sign that she was her grandmother’s chosen heir, and would fulfil Patience’s dreams. Gina would learn to speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man’s job, and travel the world with a free spirit. Is she the reincarnation of her grandmother? Maybe.

I was a bit disappointed when I came to the end, because I was expecting more about her life in America, but maybe it's going to be written about in another memoir? The memoir is about the history of the author's life and what it was like growing up as the daughter of two Nigerian immigrants in the U.K. during the 80s. We see the first twenty-five years of the author's life growing up in London, England, where racism was at the forefront of everything. She became the first woman engineer at Otis elevators in over one-hundred-year history. This is a very humorous memoir, but it also covers some pretty dark subjects. Editorial Director Joel Simons says: ‘Gina Yashere is a trailblazer and comedy legend, and I’m delighted to be publishing her at HarperNonFiction. Her story is moving, inspiring and very, very funny – and all told with wonderful charm and honesty.’ I felt that her memoir could've been a bit more rounded, and would've loved to hear about when she chose to publicly come out; so much more could be been written on this issue, especially with her mother and the community she was raised in. It was briefly mentioned, but to reiterate, it wasn't fully developed. If you aren't familiar with Gina Yashere, stop reading this review and go watch her thirty minute special on Netflix's show The Standups--the most laughter per minute stand up special I've seen in a while.

At the heart of her story is her work ethic and sense of humor. Yashere is all about that hustle. She consistently works harder and is funnier than the (mostly white, male) other people in the room, and that's why she has succeeded.It’s especially difficult for children of immigrants living among racists and bigots. Unless you're from a place deemed desirable, your culture and identity is up for ridicule and hate. The book spends a lot of time on that and I’m willing to bet because it had that much of an effect on her, more so than her sexuality which she stumbled upon a little later than some. It ended up being rather anticlimactic and I thought it was interesting. I immediately wondered if her controlling and conservative mother (who wouldn’t even let her go to friends’ parties in the neighborhood or take swimming lessons at school) would have been so passive, if Gina wasn’t the successful international comedian she was.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
  • Sold by: Fruugo

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