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Review: Irby offers comic relief in third essay collection

``Wow, No Thank You,'' Vintage Books, By Samantha Irby With ``Wow, No Thank You,'' the incomparable Samantha Irby offers yet another laugh-out-loud masterpiece.
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``Wow, No Thank You,'' Vintage Books, By Samantha Irby

With ``Wow, No Thank You,'' the incomparable Samantha Irby offers yet another laugh-out-loud masterpiece.

In her third book of essays, the honest and self-deprecating Irby muses on everything from her approach to step parenting (avoid the children at all costs) to the pressure of caring for the “smelly, actively decaying body that (she) never asked for” to the months she avoided replying to an email from a “very famous person.”

Irby, who made a name for herself with her blog, Bitches Gotta Eat, has become quite the famous person, herself, these days. Now, as she says in the book, she can move a bunch of stuff off her Amazon wish list and into the main cart. Despite her rise in star status, though, her fresh, unique writing is as raunchy and relatable as ever.

“Wow, No Thank You" is Irby’s exploration of life as a full-grown adult, navigating questions like “do people clean their roofs or does the rain just take care of it,” and having a panic attack while wondering whether it would be too weird to put gummy bears on the group grocery list while working in a TV writers room.

As with her last two books, ``Meaty" and “We are Never Meeting in Real Life,” Irby is a delight to spend time with. ``Wow, No Thank You" is the perfect read at a time when we all could use a little comic relief.

Molly Sprayregen, The Associated Press

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