Quietly Hostile

Essays

By: Samantha Irby

Narrated by: Samantha Irby

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A GLAMOUR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A hilarious new essay collection from Samantha Irby "engages readers with her characteristic combination of laugh-out-loud moments, heartfelt passages and plenty of awkward experiences.... Quietly Hostile will delight established fans and newcomers alike (Parade).

“Brilliant and one of the funniest people I’ve ever read.” —Roxane Gay • "The king of sparkling misanthropy and tender, loving dread." —Jia Tolentin

"Absolutely hilarious.... If you are feeling down, or you feel like you haven't read anything you've loved in a long time, all you need is Samantha Irby.... She will make you laugh on every page." —Emma Straub, bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow, on The Today Show

Samantha Irby’s career has taken her to new heights. She dodges calls from Hollywood and flop sweats on the red carpet at premieres (well, one premiere). But nothing is ever as it seems online, where she can crop out all the ugly parts.

Irby got a lot of weird emails about Carrie Bradshaw, and not only is there diarrhea to avoid, but now—anaphylactic shock. She is turned away from restaurants for being inappropriately dressed and looks for the best ways to cope, i.e., reveling in the offerings of QVC and adopting a deranged pandemic dog. Quietly Hostile makes light as Irby takes us on another outrageously funny tour of all the gory details that make up the true portrait of a life behind the screenshotted depression memes. Relatable, poignant, and uproarious, once again, Irby is the tonic we all need to get by.

A BEST BOOK from Vogue, Esquire, PopSugar, Glamour, The Skimm, and more

©2023 Samantha Irby (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK from: TIME Magazine, The New York Times, Elle Magazine, Oprah Daily, TODAY, Harper’s Bazaar, Lit Hub, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Parade, Zibby Mag, Sunset, Good Housekeeping, San Francisco Chronicle, The Millions, Electric Lit, Publishers Weekly, BookRiot, Autostraddle, The Week, She Reads, and more

A BEST BOOK: from Vogue, Esquire, PopSugar, Glamour, Barnes & Noble, The Skimm, The Philadelphia Inquirer, HuffPost UK, and BookPage

“Queen of the laugh-out-loud hot take . . . Perfect for a beach day [and] takes on the real issues: poop, public defecation, intimidating teens and the ‘Lane Bryant that’s now a Chipotle in downtown Evanston.’” —The Chicago Tribune

“No one describes the human body quite like Irby. She’s a poet of embarrassment: Her confessional style is frank and unashamed. . . . her writing about the great transition from being ‘young and lubricated’ to middle-aged is reliably moving in its own way, and consistently hilarious.” —The Atlantic

“The Midwest’s most loveable misanthrope, triumphantly returns. . . . Reliably and painfully funny. . . . Irby has the remarkable ability to make the utterly banal, and even the tragic, uproariously entertaining. . . . Irby simply doesn’t miss.” —Chicago Reader

I’m inviting you to my party anyway….

I love everything she puts out. The way she organizes the topics and her delivery of content is spot on. Shes open and honest, never shying away from the real issues in life- many of which we have in common. She manages to make these things funny for a change and lighten the load. Not to mention her wit and perspective on so many random things that I otherwise wouldn’t have thought about at all- Samantha Irby works her magic, making the most mundane topic into a complete riot. Shes the best!

Hilarious and relatable as always!

I had to play the first few minutes for several friends. SO funny and feels like hanging with your close pal.

Hilarious! And I can’t wait to listen to more!

Samantha Irby has been floating around my Audible for years. I think I have all her books in my wishlist. But for some reason I’ve never gotten around to actually listening to one. I am a big fan of this humorous essays and this one was fantastic. I love her descriptions of everything, and I especially love her, going through and talking about how she would improve so many episodes of the original sex and the city. If you own this book, the chapter on teenager should be played out loud for any human who’s ever been on a planet with a teenager. Definitely going to listen to more of her. Don’t know if I missed anything by starting with her most recent book, but I kind of doubt it.

Narration

She always kills. I wish she narrated everything on my audible queue. Ready for the next book of essays.

Another great one!

When’s the next book? I already am sad that I’ve finished this one. Thanks Sam for another hilarious book.

Hilariously brilliant!

Quickest audiobook I have ever listened to. Samantha Irby is hilarious, relatable, and raw. One million stars.

HILARIOUS!!

I truly enjoyed listening to this book. I have listened to her other books and its a joy to listen to the author herself. She is so funny.

The Best!!

I love this author’s style and content. She is hilarious and deadpan and sarcastic, all the best things!

As always, Samantha Irby is hilarious

I was so excited for this latest release and it was as hilarious and comforting as all of Irby’s books. Her narration makes me feel like I’m spending time with a friend and I often re-listen when I need a comfort book. This will definitely be added to the rotation.

Hilarious as always!

Love this woman and her writing and her narrative!! I gut laughed and cackled so much listening!!