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Science ...For Her!
Megan Amram, one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment,” Rolling Stone’s “25 Funniest People on Twitter,” and a writer for NBC’s hit show Parks and Recreation, delivers a politically, scientifically, and anatomically incorrect “textbook” that will have women screaming with laughter, and men dying to know what the noise is about.
In the vein of faux expert books by John Hodgman and Amy Sedaris, Science…for Her! is ostensibly a book of science written by a denizen of women’s magazines. Comedy writer and Twitter sensation Megan Amram showcases her fiendish wit with a pitch-perfect attack on everything from those insanely perky tips for self-improvement to our bizarre shopaholic dating culture to the socially mandated pursuit of mind-blowing sex to the cringe-worthy secret codes of food and body issues.
In the vein of faux expert books by John Hodgman and Amy Sedaris, Science…for Her! is ostensibly a book of science written by a denizen of women’s magazines. Comedy writer and Twitter sensation Megan Amram showcases her fiendish wit with a pitch-perfect attack on everything from those insanely perky tips for self-improvement to our bizarre shopaholic dating culture to the socially mandated pursuit of mind-blowing sex to the cringe-worthy secret codes of food and body issues.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
30 people are currently reading
1509 people want to read
About the author
Megan Amram
3 books15 followersMegan Amram (born September 3, 1987) is an American comedian and writer. She became well known after 2010 through her Twitter account ( @MeganAmram ), where she posts one-liners that make use of subtle word play, absurdism, and dark humor.[1] She was a staff writer for the Disney Channel television sitcom A.N.T. Farm and currently writes for NBC's Parks and Recreation. Amram grew up in Portland, Oregon and attended Catlin Gabel School.
Source: Wikipedia.
Source: Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 155 reviews
November 7, 2014
I started this book with a bad case of researcher's bias- I wanted to love it. The author sounds like a very smart, very witty person but this book really isn't either. I'm a big fan of America! A History from Jon Stewart, and I'd hoped this would be the science counterpart to that. Rather than a satirical science text book mocking the stereotypical tropes of women and girls being bad at science and all the ways that stereotype is wrong, its page after page of non-science and non-humor. Also, I'm still trying to figure out what rape jokes have to do with science. Seriously, there were a lot of rape jokes.
January 26, 2015
I really struggled to get through this book. I didn't think it was funny, which was disappointing since Amram writes for Parks and Rec. I found the book to be tedious, and most of the jokes went on for way too long. Also, I get that since she's satirizing a women's magazine there needs to be some ridiculous stuff in the book, but I think it's possible to do satire without being so over the top, especially in terms of mean-spiritedness.
Received from Netgalley.
Received from Netgalley.
December 25, 2014
(I got an ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)
I was hoping this one would be funny, with pokes to some "girly" magazines and their "silly" articles, yet also real scientific data in it—like a textbook with serious information, only in the shape of articles, lists of tips, etc.
It wasn't the case. It only looked the part... until I started reading it.
Science here was reduced to a bare minimum. Nothing any high-schooler wouldn't know, nothing really interesting, nothing to learn here. So the Earth is orbiting around the sun: big news. Reproduction: I learnt more about it in the anatomy book I got when I was 7. Either you really don't know much about science and this is going to be useless, or you already know a bit, and it won't be of any use to you. If there's a middle-ground in that muddle, it's a very thin and invisible one.
The rest didn't save the book: it was just too heavy-handed to my taste. Like using plaster coating instead of foundation. Too full of fat jokes, rape jokes, wife-beating jokes, mean jokes, tasteless jokes in general, that went on for far too long, again and again and again. After the Nth iteration of "I can't get over my boyfriend" and "here's a dick" and "fat ugly bitch" and so on, I was glad I had had a few drinks in me to keep on reading. (Note: I'm only a social drinker, and a moderate one at that. When I need booze to get me through a book, it's bad, bad news.)
There's humour, satire and political incorrectness... and then there's just too heavy and thick to bear. Hey, wait. Thickium: the one element you won't find on the periodic table, because it's atomic number is so high it actually fell off said table. See? I can do science, too.
It takes real skill to properly satirise any subject. I don't think that skill was anywhere to be found here. In the end, I just wasted my time. (And probably would have wasted it much less if I had read an actual issue of Marie Claire, Elle, or whatever, instead. Unless the US versions of those magazines are really so much worse than the French ones, in which case I won't ever touch them with a ten-foot pole.)
I was hoping this one would be funny, with pokes to some "girly" magazines and their "silly" articles, yet also real scientific data in it—like a textbook with serious information, only in the shape of articles, lists of tips, etc.
It wasn't the case. It only looked the part... until I started reading it.
Science here was reduced to a bare minimum. Nothing any high-schooler wouldn't know, nothing really interesting, nothing to learn here. So the Earth is orbiting around the sun: big news. Reproduction: I learnt more about it in the anatomy book I got when I was 7. Either you really don't know much about science and this is going to be useless, or you already know a bit, and it won't be of any use to you. If there's a middle-ground in that muddle, it's a very thin and invisible one.
The rest didn't save the book: it was just too heavy-handed to my taste. Like using plaster coating instead of foundation. Too full of fat jokes, rape jokes, wife-beating jokes, mean jokes, tasteless jokes in general, that went on for far too long, again and again and again. After the Nth iteration of "I can't get over my boyfriend" and "here's a dick" and "fat ugly bitch" and so on, I was glad I had had a few drinks in me to keep on reading. (Note: I'm only a social drinker, and a moderate one at that. When I need booze to get me through a book, it's bad, bad news.)
There's humour, satire and political incorrectness... and then there's just too heavy and thick to bear. Hey, wait. Thickium: the one element you won't find on the periodic table, because it's atomic number is so high it actually fell off said table. See? I can do science, too.
It takes real skill to properly satirise any subject. I don't think that skill was anywhere to be found here. In the end, I just wasted my time. (And probably would have wasted it much less if I had read an actual issue of Marie Claire, Elle, or whatever, instead. Unless the US versions of those magazines are really so much worse than the French ones, in which case I won't ever touch them with a ten-foot pole.)
February 6, 2017
(I got an ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)
When I requested this from NetGalley I thought it would be a popular science book aimed at girls. Not a bad idea since girls seem to be underrepresented in the natural sciences and there's no harm in getting them excited at a young age.
When I downloaded it and saw the cover I discovered that my earlier assumption had been wrong. The book presents itself as a women's fashion magazine, but with science instead of fashion and beauty tips. Well, I thought, that might be fun. I'm not a big fan of the typical 'beauty' glorifying publications, words like 'must-haves' send shivers down my spine, so a satirical take could be quite entertaining.
OMG, like, literally, OMG.... as if a pumpkin-spiced-latte-Starbucks sipping teenager and her BFFs (or besties, or whatever) have thrown up on a page and have it published.
If you're going for satire, subtlety is key, if you overdo it it seems like you mean it.
there's very little actual science in this book and some of it is just wrong. Proper science in an alternative wrapping could be fun, but this"in the section "Hot Reproductive Sex Tips":
At the exact moment that the sperm enters the wall of the ovum and meiosis begins, stick your finger in his butthole!
Yes, that would be fertilisation, not meiosis!
I haven't read the whole thing, it's tiring to see women consistently being portrayed as inferior to men with a focus on lipstick and swallowing sperm.
When I requested this from NetGalley I thought it would be a popular science book aimed at girls. Not a bad idea since girls seem to be underrepresented in the natural sciences and there's no harm in getting them excited at a young age.
When I downloaded it and saw the cover I discovered that my earlier assumption had been wrong. The book presents itself as a women's fashion magazine, but with science instead of fashion and beauty tips. Well, I thought, that might be fun. I'm not a big fan of the typical 'beauty' glorifying publications, words like 'must-haves' send shivers down my spine, so a satirical take could be quite entertaining.
OMG, like, literally, OMG.... as if a pumpkin-spiced-latte-Starbucks sipping teenager and her BFFs (or besties, or whatever) have thrown up on a page and have it published.
If you're going for satire, subtlety is key, if you overdo it it seems like you mean it.
there's very little actual science in this book and some of it is just wrong. Proper science in an alternative wrapping could be fun, but this"in the section "Hot Reproductive Sex Tips":
At the exact moment that the sperm enters the wall of the ovum and meiosis begins, stick your finger in his butthole!
Yes, that would be fertilisation, not meiosis!
I haven't read the whole thing, it's tiring to see women consistently being portrayed as inferior to men with a focus on lipstick and swallowing sperm.
November 27, 2014
Congrats, Megan Amram. Your book is the first book that inspired me to create a new shelf on Good Reads. I hope that I won't have other books joining you, as you have worked hard to encourage me to create a "Gave Up On" shelf.
Megan, what the hell? You currently have 447,000 twitter followers, you wrote for comedy's beloved Parks and Recreation, and you graduated from Harvard. I get it, you're writing satire. But after the fourth time I read, "my friend who does meth", in your section of your book where you're thanking people, I started skipping pages. Precious pages! Did you really expect us to waste our time and money to skip through the book in an attempt to salvage whatever pages that might be worthwhile?
I am so disappointed in this book that I'm returning it for a refund. I usually don't pre-order books, but I couldn't justify spending $16 on this book, or even worse, having it in my book collection. Maybe I made a mistake in pre-ordering this book. Megan picked a good time for her book to come out after Amy Poehler's "Yes Please!". I bought "Science...For Her!" at the same time that I pre-ordered Poehler's book, hoping that I could indulge in comedy gold.
Megan, what the hell? You currently have 447,000 twitter followers, you wrote for comedy's beloved Parks and Recreation, and you graduated from Harvard. I get it, you're writing satire. But after the fourth time I read, "my friend who does meth", in your section of your book where you're thanking people, I started skipping pages. Precious pages! Did you really expect us to waste our time and money to skip through the book in an attempt to salvage whatever pages that might be worthwhile?
I am so disappointed in this book that I'm returning it for a refund. I usually don't pre-order books, but I couldn't justify spending $16 on this book, or even worse, having it in my book collection. Maybe I made a mistake in pre-ordering this book. Megan picked a good time for her book to come out after Amy Poehler's "Yes Please!". I bought "Science...For Her!" at the same time that I pre-ordered Poehler's book, hoping that I could indulge in comedy gold.
March 11, 2015
1 star. Just because I could tweet a few funny quotes and Goodreads doesn’t allow us to give zero stars. Seriously, we need those, Goodreads.
I think that I was expecting something completely different. When I first read about this book, I thought it was a book about actual science that mocked the style we often get in “women” magazines. I liked that idea. It’s pretty obvious that Science is a field that doesn’t involve women as much as it should, and there’s a lot to be said about the topic. The idea seemed interesting and fun to read. I actually like science (please, don’t tell my Physics teacher from high school, I have a reputation to maintain), and I’m always ready for new and interesting ways to new information.
Instead of that, I got this
The whole book is written with the voice of an utter IDIOT. I’m pretty sure that most women magazines don’t like their reporters to sound as if they have been lobotomized. Repeatedly. Don’t get me wrong, the first few pages were funny indeed. I laughed.
But it very soon it got OLD. There’s a limit for how many “oh, I’m a woman and I’m an idiot” comments a writer can make in one book. This one in particular got over it in the first chapter, seriously. Maybe it was because I wanted something completely different, but the “silly” woman gag was more than overly long. It was annoying and irrelevant.
It’s okay to mock how women are seen in science fields. Humor is indeed a powerful subversive weapon, and it can be used to help to bring attention to several issues. But you have to make a point. Remember how Tina Fey and Amy Poehler joked about how awesome Amal Alamuddin was and how it was her husband who got all the fame? (For those who don’t know Amal is a Human Rights lawyer and George Clooney’s wife)
Maybe Megan Amram was making a point and the problem is that I didn’t get it. Still, I feel that she decided to go for the easy laughs instead of actually addressing the problem (that is, women’s participation in the sciences). Besides, there were some jokes that weren’t even that funny, like the jokes about the narrator’s boyfriend keeping her locked in his basement. Rape and abuse are not funny and I was very uncomfortable while reading those parts. You can’t just make light of the suffering of hundreds of women around the world. So not cool, people.
I don’t even know why I even finished this book. Perhaps I’m a bit of a masochist and like to suffer (not really), or maybe because I have the pathologic compulsion to always finish what I start (which is why I’ve only ever not-finished one book in my entire reader life). I regretted spending my time in this book. (That’s actually a first!)
I really wanted to be one of your multiple best friends, Megan, but it was too much for me. So let’s stay as casual acquaintances.
I think that I was expecting something completely different. When I first read about this book, I thought it was a book about actual science that mocked the style we often get in “women” magazines. I liked that idea. It’s pretty obvious that Science is a field that doesn’t involve women as much as it should, and there’s a lot to be said about the topic. The idea seemed interesting and fun to read. I actually like science (please, don’t tell my Physics teacher from high school, I have a reputation to maintain), and I’m always ready for new and interesting ways to new information.
Instead of that, I got this
The whole book is written with the voice of an utter IDIOT. I’m pretty sure that most women magazines don’t like their reporters to sound as if they have been lobotomized. Repeatedly. Don’t get me wrong, the first few pages were funny indeed. I laughed.
But it very soon it got OLD. There’s a limit for how many “oh, I’m a woman and I’m an idiot” comments a writer can make in one book. This one in particular got over it in the first chapter, seriously. Maybe it was because I wanted something completely different, but the “silly” woman gag was more than overly long. It was annoying and irrelevant.
It’s okay to mock how women are seen in science fields. Humor is indeed a powerful subversive weapon, and it can be used to help to bring attention to several issues. But you have to make a point. Remember how Tina Fey and Amy Poehler joked about how awesome Amal Alamuddin was and how it was her husband who got all the fame? (For those who don’t know Amal is a Human Rights lawyer and George Clooney’s wife)
Maybe Megan Amram was making a point and the problem is that I didn’t get it. Still, I feel that she decided to go for the easy laughs instead of actually addressing the problem (that is, women’s participation in the sciences). Besides, there were some jokes that weren’t even that funny, like the jokes about the narrator’s boyfriend keeping her locked in his basement. Rape and abuse are not funny and I was very uncomfortable while reading those parts. You can’t just make light of the suffering of hundreds of women around the world. So not cool, people.
I don’t even know why I even finished this book. Perhaps I’m a bit of a masochist and like to suffer (not really), or maybe because I have the pathologic compulsion to always finish what I start (which is why I’ve only ever not-finished one book in my entire reader life). I regretted spending my time in this book. (That’s actually a first!)
I really wanted to be one of your multiple best friends, Megan, but it was too much for me. So let’s stay as casual acquaintances.
December 7, 2014
I...I don't know what I just read (by read I mean mostly skimmed). I think I thought it would be a funny, satirical book with a little actual science. Oddly, it was not funny and there were some science-word headings quickly followed by text like, "OMG my best friend blah blah meth my ex boyfriend blah blah vaginas blah blah". Apparently this woman is funny on Twitter. Since I'm not really on Twitter, I only picked it up because she writes for Parks and Rec. Parks and Rec is one of my favourite shows but this is definitely one of my least favourite books ever. It was painfully unfunny, obnoxious and borderline offensive. Here's an example of a "funny part":
Top 7 Birth Control Methods:
7) The pill
6) Condoms
5) Being an ugly bitch
4) Floor-length jean skirts
3) Fat face, uggo bod
2) Fat body, busted face
1) Being Jennifer Aniston.
Ok, I will admit that floor-length jean skirts did produce a very slight chuckle, but seriously?! There is also a "What Your Man's Drink Says About Him" section, in which every drink (from wine to scotch to MALE SEMEN) means your man is gay. If you, like me, feel this is super lame, I suggest avoiding this book at all costs.
Listen, I appreciate that someone wanted to parody Cosmo and magazines like that. I'm sure that could be done effectively...it just wasn't done here. AT ALL. And WTF does science have to do with that concept anyways?! Man, I need a drink..
Top 7 Birth Control Methods:
7) The pill
6) Condoms
5) Being an ugly bitch
4) Floor-length jean skirts
3) Fat face, uggo bod
2) Fat body, busted face
1) Being Jennifer Aniston.
Ok, I will admit that floor-length jean skirts did produce a very slight chuckle, but seriously?! There is also a "What Your Man's Drink Says About Him" section, in which every drink (from wine to scotch to MALE SEMEN) means your man is gay. If you, like me, feel this is super lame, I suggest avoiding this book at all costs.
Listen, I appreciate that someone wanted to parody Cosmo and magazines like that. I'm sure that could be done effectively...it just wasn't done here. AT ALL. And WTF does science have to do with that concept anyways?! Man, I need a drink..
February 29, 2016
This should have been called "Science, by a Crazy Person."
I'm so disappointed. I love Parks & Rec. Megan is so funny on Twitter. But this missed the mark (whatever that mark was) by miles.
I was under the impression that this was a pseudo-textbook like America: A Citizen's Guide, but it was more like I Am America with this awful through-line of "Megan's" inane life-updates.
It's sad because there was so much that was genuinely funny here. I would have even been happy if this had been done in the style of Cosmo mag. But I just don't get why the first person stuff was in this book. Unless the premise is that women are so stupid that we can't focus long enough to write a textbook.
I'm so disappointed. I love Parks & Rec. Megan is so funny on Twitter. But this missed the mark (whatever that mark was) by miles.
I was under the impression that this was a pseudo-textbook like America: A Citizen's Guide, but it was more like I Am America with this awful through-line of "Megan's" inane life-updates.
It's sad because there was so much that was genuinely funny here. I would have even been happy if this had been done in the style of Cosmo mag. But I just don't get why the first person stuff was in this book. Unless the premise is that women are so stupid that we can't focus long enough to write a textbook.
March 4, 2015
Concept was good, execution was poor. Jokes could have been sly and passive-aggressive and ruthless but were tired and unfunny. Endless references to meth and kale and buttholes and being a crazy ex-girlfriend aren't funny.
I skimmed it and my only shout-out will be the "Upcoming Urban Outfitters Books" figure on page 97.
I skimmed it and my only shout-out will be the "Upcoming Urban Outfitters Books" figure on page 97.
February 5, 2017
As Pete Campbell famously said: NOT GREAT, BOB!!!
November 24, 2022
Proud of myself for overcoming my compulsive need to finish even bad books and just DNF’ing this in the first section. I followed Megan on Twitter for years (she’s most famous for her incredible, excruciating “today’s the day Donald Trump finally became president” bit) and have loved her television work (she’s responsible for all of the incredible restaurant puns on The Good Place, among much, much more!) so I expected to really enjoy this but it neither actually taught me anything through the snark nor made me laugh at how ridiculous it was. I actually pushed through the absurdly offensive (not even “in a funny way”) acknowledgements section with the hope of something better on the other end and was rewarded with feeling like my brain was melting. And I LOVE nonsense, so this is coming from a real place of disappointment rather than contempt for the form. It’s such a fun concept! I have to believe that the comedians quoted in the front matter either did not actually read the book or were just doing their coworker a favor by sending a positive review for my own sanity.
December 17, 2014
Fascinated by the weirdly authoritative, vapid, faux-friendly editorial voice of women's magazines? If you've spent time reading any kind of ladies' magazines regularly, whether Cosmo, Elle, Marie Claire, even Seventeen, or if you, like me, still occasionally can't resist flipping through them at the grocery store, this book will provide laughs and sometimes-sharp satire.
It's weird, is the main thing - this voice of women's magazines that refers to us all like, 'Hey, gals!' and imagines how we drink fancy girl drinks and head off to our jobs in offices, how we live in big cities and spend $300 on a sweater because it's 'in for fall' and how every once in a while we buy fancy nail polish and just stay in and pamper ourselves. And, you know, math is hard for us! But we're breaking through that glass ceiling and having it all!
Science...For Her sometimes succeeds in mocking this in a surreal way, but it's also sometimes boring. I liked how the editor would refer to her readers as 'baby gals!!' and other small little touches like that. I liked the small asides to her former career at NASA where she accidentally killed a bunch of astronauts. All in all, worth flipping through.
It's weird, is the main thing - this voice of women's magazines that refers to us all like, 'Hey, gals!' and imagines how we drink fancy girl drinks and head off to our jobs in offices, how we live in big cities and spend $300 on a sweater because it's 'in for fall' and how every once in a while we buy fancy nail polish and just stay in and pamper ourselves. And, you know, math is hard for us! But we're breaking through that glass ceiling and having it all!
Science...For Her sometimes succeeds in mocking this in a surreal way, but it's also sometimes boring. I liked how the editor would refer to her readers as 'baby gals!!' and other small little touches like that. I liked the small asides to her former career at NASA where she accidentally killed a bunch of astronauts. All in all, worth flipping through.
Read
October 18, 2021not great, Bob
unfinished
January 23, 2018DNF'd 2 minutes into Chapter 1
I'm not even going to justify doing a review for this on my blog because I couldn't even make it past the first few minutes of this audiobook.
I get the point of the novel, or at least what Megan was attempting to do. It's supposed to highlight the absurd notion that science isn't a subject for women to study.
Unfortunately, it just doesn't work.
It's not funny; rather, it's silly. As a young female who spent nearly 7 years studying science in a post-secondary setting, it's painful to listen to. While I wouldn't go as far as to say I was offended but it did rub me the wrong way.
This is a hard pass my friends.
I'm not even going to justify doing a review for this on my blog because I couldn't even make it past the first few minutes of this audiobook.
I get the point of the novel, or at least what Megan was attempting to do. It's supposed to highlight the absurd notion that science isn't a subject for women to study.
Unfortunately, it just doesn't work.
It's not funny; rather, it's silly. As a young female who spent nearly 7 years studying science in a post-secondary setting, it's painful to listen to. While I wouldn't go as far as to say I was offended but it did rub me the wrong way.
This is a hard pass my friends.
August 9, 2015
Ok full disclosure, I didn't finish this. I generally don't rate books I don't finish on the off-chance that they get better in the end but I just don't know, but this is SO AWFUL, I feel like I owe it to the world to write this. I read approximately 25 pages, but who even knows because the first entire section is numbered with Roman numerals and is basically just terribly written mini-letters to her friends. The science? I don't even know, because it hadn't even been mentioned yet. In fact, it wasn't mentioned in the first 2 pages of the biology section.
The author did, repeatedly, ask the readers if they like her. My eyes rolled so hard and so far that I got a migraine from the pressure.
The tone is trying for quirky and cute, but comes across as stupid. Legit, just dumb. The opposite of how this woman in science wants this topic to be portrayed. It seems like she's going for a Jon Stewart feel, but she sucks at it. Apparently she calls herself a comedian and a writer, both descriptions I would dispute.
Sorry to harsh, but nope. No no no.
The author did, repeatedly, ask the readers if they like her. My eyes rolled so hard and so far that I got a migraine from the pressure.
The tone is trying for quirky and cute, but comes across as stupid. Legit, just dumb. The opposite of how this woman in science wants this topic to be portrayed. It seems like she's going for a Jon Stewart feel, but she sucks at it. Apparently she calls herself a comedian and a writer, both descriptions I would dispute.
Sorry to harsh, but nope. No no no.
February 17, 2015
Wow. I really hate not to finish books I've started, especially if they count towards a challenge (Popsugar 2015 "Book that got bad reviews"). But...I value my time more than I do finishing this book. Science...For Her! has no redeemable qualities. Who thought this was a good idea? It's maybe supposed be a humorous spoof of girly magazines, but it's not at all funny, witty, or even coherent. After fourteen pages of best friend dedications (at least half a page being friends to do meth with), I was concerned. I made it (kinda, skimming) to page 59. I can move no further. The jokes (?) repeatedly return to semen, fat ugly bitches, and an ex-boyfriend. The science content is basically non-existent. The photos make no sense (are they inside jokes? who is the reader supposed to be?) I just...I just can't with reviewing this even more. Looking back at it for ridiculously horrible quotes is making my head hurt. So forget about it. Really horrible. Seriously, who gave this the go-ahead for publication?!?
December 5, 2014
Megan Amram's twitter feed was one of the first I ever followed, and it was one of the only ones I continued to follow. She is hilarious! So I was very excited when she had a book coming out. What could be better than an entire book full of her insane ideas? Well...
I admire that she sticks to the persona she adopts on page one, but that persona is so vapid and unlikable that the book quickly became unreadable for me. I get the idea of the overarching joke (that women are often treated liked mindless creatures; so why not assume that is not a bias but a fact, and that women therefore need science explained to them in "lady-like" ways), and I admire the thought behind it, but in execution, it's just painful.
I truly hope she puts out another book, one in which she offers her wildly diverse and out-there perspectives; or, at the least, one in which the driving persona is more human.
I admire that she sticks to the persona she adopts on page one, but that persona is so vapid and unlikable that the book quickly became unreadable for me. I get the idea of the overarching joke (that women are often treated liked mindless creatures; so why not assume that is not a bias but a fact, and that women therefore need science explained to them in "lady-like" ways), and I admire the thought behind it, but in execution, it's just painful.
I truly hope she puts out another book, one in which she offers her wildly diverse and out-there perspectives; or, at the least, one in which the driving persona is more human.
January 12, 2015
Barely merits one star, but I loved the cover and the concept. Her schtick (Xander) though soon gets old, and the rest of the content was egregiously crass. I'm all for irreverence as a source of humor, but this was so disrespectful of so many groups (lesbians, fat people, black people, women, even a joke about the way Sylvia Plath died) that in the end it was just too offensive to be funny. She makes Chelsea Handler and Amy Sedaris look like religious old ladies. I would highly NOT recommend this to anyone. I should have just had a strong shot of booze or a whack to the head, with the same effect.
Award: This book made me create an "Awful" shelf.
Award: This book made me create an "Awful" shelf.
December 28, 2014
This was a DNF for me. I'm sorry, I just couldn't get through it. I got one chapter in and I wanted to strangle myself. The dedication in the very beginning was cute, it was unique, but it was SO LONG. And the language... this was not science in the form of a Cosmo magazine, it was just the annoying cheerleader at school failing her science exam but trying to laugh it off.
In the one chapter I read I was not interested, I struggled, and it was just so annoying. I could practically hear the stereotypical dumb blonde blowing bubbles with her gum as I read through it.
I put it down and I will never pick it up again. Thank god it's a library book and I can return it.
In the one chapter I read I was not interested, I struggled, and it was just so annoying. I could practically hear the stereotypical dumb blonde blowing bubbles with her gum as I read through it.
I put it down and I will never pick it up again. Thank god it's a library book and I can return it.
February 2, 2015
Ugh. The premise had the potential to be funny and informative, but it fell flatter than a smooshed crêpe. I gave it a try for about forty pages then browsed through the rest while hoping I would find something redeeming, something of merit, something a tiny bit interesting and or amusing, or, at the very least, not so dumb my eyes hurt, but no such luck. Aside from the hopefully-tongue-in-cheek playing up of totally sexist stereotypes (especially the crazy ex-girlfriend and ditzy hormonal female), this book included borderline-if-not-full-blown-racist and ableism. Not cool, book; I can't recommend you to human beings.
February 1, 2015
I wanted to read this book after I heard about it on NPR in the interview with the author. It's supposed to be a tongue in cheek take on how women are perceived to understand science. I couldn't get through it. I know the entire thing is meant to be a joke. I get that it's satire. But the humor is so utterly grating and sometimes I forgot and actually felt insulted even though I KNOW she is making fun of stereotypical thinking. In spite of that, it's just not in the best taste. I felt like it was a fail for womankind.
July 12, 2015
Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I definitely laughed out loud reading Megan Amram's debut, but it was often due to her audacity not cleverness. There were some great satirical elements and it was a fun read. I wish it had been edited down a bit to keep the jokes tighter. Pages of Kale items is not funny after the first few. Overall, I'd recommend as a light read but nowhere near as funny as other female writers today.
May 17, 2015
I am really, really hoping that this book is a spoof because it is a WTF did I just read? This book sets womanhood back about a zillion years and my IQ down about 60 points. Yes, it is THAT bad. Really... save your brain cells. Who the fuck publishes this shit???
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August 31, 2014Ehh. I grew tired of it.
November 24, 2014
Wow. I'm starting to doubt that all these people who raved about this book didn't actually read it. It is terrible. Not funny just super annoying.
November 11, 2014
I wish this was funnier. I wanted to like this so badly. However, I did not.
December 29, 2014
Megan Amram is hilarious. If you enjoy her on the Tweeters, do not hesitate to read this book.
March 18, 2015
Can you give a book zero stars? This would be the one. I'm seriously dumber for even attempting to read this crass crap. Worst. Book. Ever.
January 8, 2016
I was laughing in practically every page of this book
May 17, 2016
I could see what she was trying to do, but she took the joke way too far. I was hoping for something more on the side of clever, this was too over the top for me.
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