By Felicia Day
Touchstone, 2015. 260 pgs. Biography
Felicia Day’s wonderful memoir starts off with a foreword by none other than Joss Whedon who describes her as “stranger than I am.” This is high praise from a man who represents a great deal of strange.
For those who are not familiar with Day, she is commonly known as “The Queen of the Nerds” since she is an active gamer and her projects usually feature connections to that world.
“You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)” is a look at her unusual childhood, her discovery of the world and people of online gaming, her successes as a writer and producer of Internet Web series, and her struggles with anxiety and finding balance in life. She is honest, engaging and really very funny. I was surprised by her frank discussion of an online gaming addiction and the stress and depression that can be caused by an overachieving personality.
I completely loved this book! I had high hopes and was not disappointed. I expected to be entertained, but was surprised when I felt inspired and also gained a bit of understanding into why online gaming is so popular and addictive, something I have never been able to grasp. I listened to an audio version, read by the author, and recommend it.
Felicia’s memoir belongs aside other recent favorites by Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Mindy Kaling.
CZ
2 comments:
I really enjoyed this audio book as well. I wasn't particularly motivated to pick this one up until I read the somewhat scathing Kirkus review of the book and had to find out what the reviewer's issues with it were about. Completely wrong! This book was a lot of fun, hit just the right notes regarding all things nerd culture and the author did a lovely job reading it. Fun for one and all!
Felicia Day, an icon of online subcultures and all things geeky is best known for her work as the creator and star of the The Guild, an award-winning web comedy series about a group of gamers who join up to fight monsters together. In her memoir, Day writes about her unusual childhood upbringing, her dream to become an actor and how her dissatisfaction with the roles she was getting in Hollywood led to her to the world of online gaming and to eventually develop The Guild based on her experiences with the people who inhabited those games.
Day is very engaging and writes hilariously about her utter cluelessness and determination to succeed at the challenges set before her. Yet she also writes openly about her addictive nature, her struggles with anxiety and finding balance in her life caused by that same overachieving personality. This book is about staying true to yourself no matter how wacky and weird you may be.
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