You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey

Crazy Stories About Racism

By: Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

Narrated by: Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

Writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers Amber Ruffin writes with her sister Lacey Lamar with humor and heart to share absurd anecdotes about everyday experiences of racism.

Now a writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers and host of The Amber Ruffin Show, Amber Ruffin lives in New York, where she is no one's first Black friend and everyone is, as she puts it, "stark raving normal". But Amber's sister Lacey? She's still living in their home state of Nebraska, and trust us, you'll never believe what happened to Lacey.

From racist donut shops to strangers putting their whole hand in her hair, from being mistaken for a prostitute to being mistaken for Harriet Tubman, Lacey is a lightning rod for hilariously ridiculous yet all-too-real anecdotes. She's the perfect mix of polite, beautiful, petite, and Black that apparently makes people think "I can say whatever I want to this woman". And now, Amber and Lacey share these entertainingly horrifying stories through their laugh-out-loud sisterly banter. Painfully relatable or shockingly eye-opening (depending on how often you have personally been followed by security at department stores), this book tackles modern-day racism with the perfect balance of levity and gravity.

©2021 Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar (P)2021 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"I dare you to read this hilarious and eye-opening book and not become obsessed with Amber Ruffin." (Mindy Kaling)

"If you laugh half as hard as I did at the FIRST story in this book, let alone the rest of the book, you will have gotten your money's worth. The stories made me laugh and they made me sad. I know I'm not the only one to experience these kinds of moments but it helps to know that someone else - poor little Black Lacey taking on the lion's share of Nebraska's white ignorance all by her lonesome - experiences it too. From the mental gymnastics needed to call a black store dirty then drive out of state in order to avoid said dirt only to wind up shopping in a sty operating in a white neighborhood to having the gall to try and holluh at black women on a dating app when your profile pics have the confederate flag in them, Amber & Lacey point out how white folks are apparently doing the most in them parts." (Retta, comedian and actress, Parks & Recreation, Good Girls)

"The message of this book is for ALL of us and no matter why YOU'RE here - perhaps you're a fan of Amber Ruffin's comedy, or a Seth Meyers' fan, or a personal friend of Lacey's, or maybe you're just a person browsing for a book that will help you understand the Black experience in America and the other ones seem too much like school - I urge you to BUY THIS BOOK. The stories are delivered with the humor and horror they deserve. You will laugh, you will be enraged, and if you are a white person, you will understand more than you did before about the truth of being Black in America - even if you thought you understood a lot already because you read the hard school books." (Busy Philipps, author, actor, White lady)

Can't wait for their mother's book

(1) we need the photos you speak of in the book. Please audible, update with a PDF!
(2) I hope you make a bazillion dollars and
(3) we need your mother's stories. Every mention of her was fantastic

Great book

In the audio version you miss out on some photos but get to hear Amber sing.

Way to make a rich and insidious topic not only palatable but also funny!

Amber is a great story teller. Though many of the stories shares would have made me enraged if I were Lacey (I’m a small statured black woman as well), I was able to move beyond my distain for racist ppl and find the humor in some, though not all of the tales...Amber is a hilarious story teller!!!

Great Book

This collection of stories was funny, heartbreaking, straightforward and profound. The readers (and authors) are incredibly strong and hilarious women. It was an honor to hear a piece of their world and the absurdity and enraging experience of every day racism.

TRUE STORY!

This book is so ACCURATE that I fell that it resembles me and my life...except for where you should have *insert fist here...done something else more satisfying 😉. GREAT BOOK

Unbelievable!

I’m appalled at how unbelievably racist and unfeeling and nasty we white people can be. I’m ashamed for the times I’ve failed to call out racist talk and behavior or been guilty of insensitivity myself. No more.
These stories make my heart ache. Hard to see how these sisters can keep their sense of humor long enough to get even this much told. Excellent and enlightening. You really won’t believe it!

yes Ruffin family

Thank you for sharing similar stories that I could relate to and realize my sisters and I were not alone. our turn...

Hilarious and Heartfelt

I loved this audiobook!! I listened to it all the way through, because I couldn't put it down. I loved the humorous twist on what is usually a (rightfully) dark subject. Though I did feel kinda bad to laugh at the horrible things that happened. But oh my word, it was funny!

It felt like being invited into a gossip session with two very good friends, who are laughing at the stupid things that happened to them. Which I guess it is. But I'm so glad that they narrated it themselves... and I LOVED how they broke away from the storyline to describe pictures for us in the Audiobook. We may not have gotten pictures, but we got songs!

I also appreciated the perspective. Thank you.

Still can’t believe it

As a white European from a country as homogeneous and white as milk this book was a scary look into the world of experienced racism. Told by the wonderful and bright Amber Ruffin and her sister Lacey Lamar, the contrast of Amber’s woke AF city life and Lacey’s rural struggles makes for a fun read, but also a dark conclusion: We are not were we ought to be. Thanks gals!

I. Love. This. Book.

I don’t know if I would have enjoyed this book even more in print based on the description of the wild photos Amber insisted that I was missing out, but oh the amount of times I snorted out of nowhere in public... Yeah. What a ride. Highly recommended.