Unreliable Narrator

July 1, 2023
An Indian American comedian explores the many faces of impostor syndrome. Nancherla says that she wanted to write a book about impostor syndrome--which she defines as constantly questioning whether or not she deserves her own success--because she wanted to get over feeling like a fraud. Unfortunately, she confesses, "it turns out nothing summons your impostor syndrome like trying to write a book about it." In the chapters that follow, Nancherla traces her mental health history, which includes an anecdote about competing in a Miss India DC pageant while battling an eating disorder; watching her depression grow and change over time; and finding the right medications to treat both depression and anxiety. The author astutely analyzes how systems of power have intersected to create her view of herself and her profession. At one point, she responds to reviews of her colleagues' work during the pandemic by musing, "as if it's not outright violence to rank creative work generated during a period of large-scale trauma." In the epilogue, Nancherla admits that writing about impostor syndrome did not, in fact, cure her feelings of inadequacy. On the contrary, she notes, the one thing she learned from the writing process was that "epiphanies...don't arrive on schedule, and sometimes you're the last to know you're having one." In fact, "epiphanies can take years to sink in." At its best, this heavily researched memoir is refreshingly perspicacious and darkly funny. Unfortunately, it also swings too abruptly between seriousness and humor, undercutting salient points with unnecessary jokes that jerk readers out of the main story. While the book purports to be about impostor syndrome, Nancherla rarely returns to this central concept, making the text feel more like a mental health memoir than a focused exploration of the stated topic. An uneven but still worthwhile comic memoir.

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July 24, 2023
Comedian Nancherla debuts with an intimate essay collection reflecting on the mental health challenges she’s navigated while building a career in comedy. In “Now That I Have You Here,” Nancherla recalls feeling insecure trying to break into the white male comedy world as an Indian American woman even after getting hired as a writer for the late-night show Totally Biased W. Kamau Bell, and she suggests that impostor syndrome in marginalized groups is the result of systemic biases “meant to engender uncertainty and lack of confidence in those who didn’t fit the perceived status quo.” Humor leavens the sometimes heavy subject matter, as when Nancherla describes in “Being Well” what she feels during a depressive episode: “The question ‘Why am I such a waste of life?’ suddenly becomes my PhD dissertation, in need of endless defense.” Elsewhere, she discusses battling anorexia, undergoing cosmetic procedures to change “her sleepy eyelid and gummy underbite,” and her “love-hate relationship” with performing standup. Not every piece works; in “The Agreeability Industrial Complex,” Nancherla juxtaposes feeling compelled to say yes to professional opportunities with her lack of interest in sex, but doesn’t quite tease out the connections between the two. Nonetheless, the sardonic humor and candid meditations on mental health resonate. It’s a surprisingly funny take on longing to feel comfortable in one’s own skin.

August 1, 2023
Stand-up comedian Nancherla writes about impostor syndrome, comedy, and coming into her own in this funny and insightful collection of essays. "Nothing summons your impostor syndrome like trying to write a book about it," she quips, but readers are left with no doubt of her skill. She deftly employs the tension and release of a stand-up routine, writing vulnerably about her struggles with eating disorders, depression, and finding her comedic voice, followed by interludes of jokes and confessions. She discusses how race, gender, and being the child of immigrants factor into her personality and how she is perceived by audience members and her peers and argues that structural change, led by diverse voices, is the best way forward in her industry. On a more personal level, Nancherla has become more comfortable with accepting herself as she is, noting, "you spend your adulthood reclaiming your difference and redefining it to suit your evolved sense of self." Readers will relate and will find themselves laughing out loud at this honest and humorous debut.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.