‘MEATY’: Reality TV is nothing compared to Samantha Irby

From the outside, Chicago non-fiction writer Samantha Irby doesn't have much to laugh about. Her parents died when she was a teenager. She's been homeless. She suffers from Crohn's disease. But the greatest comedians and comedic writers never wrote about happy things - they wrote about deeply personal topics and how they managed through difficult, even terrifying situations. These writers, and Irby is one of them, demonstrate the power of perspective: when we find a way to laugh, we find control and ownership over a situation.

In Irby's first collection of essays, “Meaty,” (Curbside Splendor Publishing, 250 pages, $15.95) she does just that - and as a result she is brilliantly funny, poignant and powerful.

Irby's voice is candid (much of her work could not be reprinted here) and she takes on serious issues, including her own battle with Crohn's disease:

“There's no known cure for Crohn's. I just keep dutifully taking my pills and trying not to drink so much and trying even harder to stay away from fancy French cheeses. Right now I'm not on steroids or rheumatoid arthritis drips, and I'm no longer on immunosuppressive drugs either. I haven't had to Depend on special undergarments (see what I did there?!) in months. No rubber sheets. No scopes, no xrays, no scans, no colonoscopies, NOTHING. And the only thing that has really changed in the last year, because let's face it, I still get drunk and stress out sometimes, is that I haven't been messing around with any goddamned DUDES. Celibacy cured my shit disease. Alert the New England Journal of Medicine.”

No topic is too personal for Irby. Her candor on subjects ranging from dating to race to tacos to pop culture has earned her an enormous following on her blog, www.bitchesgottaeat.com. And rightly so: in “Meaty,” Irby balances graphic, hilarious essays on sex with moving chapters detailing her childhood and her mother's struggles with MS.

In a world where most “reality” is fiction, Irby's unabashed honesty is a breath of fresh air.

Laura Farmer is writing studio director at Cornell College. Find an archive of her reviews at laurafarmerreviews.com.