Books & Literature

Book Review: It Gets Worse, by Shane Dawson

A collection of personal anecdotes from the frenetic mind of Shane Dawson, from hare-brained antics to deeply personal issues, but all with the same brand of humour.

Although it is subtitled A Collection of Essays this is actually a collection of personal anecdotes from the frenetic mind of Shane Dawson.

Dawson is something of a YouTube sensation, who people either love or revile. His first book, I Hate Myselfie, was on the New York Times bestseller list, and reading It Gets Worse, you can see why.

it-gets-worse200Dawson’s style is fluent, not over-wordy, laced with self-deprecating humour and sprinkled with just enough gross-out moments to satisfy the adolescent who lurks in all of us.

The topics covered range from hare-brained antics to deeply personal issues. For example there’s the time he and his girlfriend took a trip to Mexico…by mistake; or the time he was lured into a weird evangelical Christian kid-brainwashing cult, and stayed chiefly because they handed out chocolate bars; or the time he suffered a rash on his inner thighs because he was an overweight college kid who wore jeans on a hot day in summer. The list goes on.

He also covers serious issues with the same brand of humour, such as he and his brothers being raised by an over-worked single mother, his coming to terms with his bisexuality, and his ongoing struggle with the eating disorder bulimia (a tale which is disgusting and, frankly, hilarious at the same time, which is quite an achievement.) Many of the stories are touching and funny at the same time, like his first attempt to hook up with another guy on Craigslist.

The confessional tone of these essays might lead the reader to suspect Dawson is self-obsessed and he probably wouldn’t disagree. His saving grace is the laugh is always on him, he is never cruel to others. Although he does have some harsh words to say about those weird Christians mentioned above, but – if his story is true – at least he said it to their faces at the time.

In summary, this is a compelling collection of stories from a truly individual mind. After reading these stories, you will probably want to seek out his first volume, if you haven’t already.

Reviewed by Ron Hughes
Twitter: @RonHughes11

Rating out of 10:  9

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Australia
Release Date: July 2016
RRP: $24.99 paperback

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