School was hard for me, for lots of reasons. One was I couldn’t read until, like, ninth grade. Also I was a foster kid for most of high school, and when my mom went nuts, I had to live with my grandma. That all sucked.
The opening lines of the book reveal an ironic truth: the author of the book you are reading could not have read itself herself even in middle school. Right from those words, the intuitive reader can guess that while the life is described as “sucking” this is going to be an uplifting story. You don’t start out by admitting you didn’t learn to read until high school when writing a book unless at least part of your intent is to inspire others who share this problem or disability. At least not if the book is autobiographical in nature. The important thing here is not the sucking, but the overcoming.
When I’m onstage, I feel like it’s—it’s where I am supposed to be. It’s who I am. When I am onstage, it’s like this adrenaline rush.
Tiffany Haddish’s story contains some very dark personal stuff. For instance, not a whole lot of good relationship stories. In fact, some pretty awful relationship stories. And, of course, the whole thing about having to live with her grandmother and illiteracy and, well, you can’t really write an effective inspiration story designed to uplift people if you start out already at the top. Well, you can, but it probably won’t be as effective as those that detail the climb up the ladder from inequality and poverty. At the same time, however, the story is also a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to become a successful stand-up comic. And even though they should all know better by now, there are still plenty of people out there who think that because someone makes their living making people laugh that their lives have been a laugh riot. Ask any successful comic and they will tell that comedy is pain. This story is another confirmation of that truism.
“You never invite nobody to your house, unless they got something to lose.”
Near the end of the book, Tiffany is describing being invited by Queen Latifah to a party at her house. She inquires about bringing a couple of friends, Hannibal Buress and Lil’ Red, which stimulates Latifah to make this comment. The quote itself is probably packed with great meaning, but the significance is that the author is casually describing a party at the home of a much more famous celebrity. She has arrived as a celebrity in her own right, but is still at this point very much a fan who kind of can’t believe where she’s at.
Once again, we are being exposed to the idea that is inspiration literature. Admittedly, it is intended to inspire a certain type of reader and is not intended to be universally applied to any random book buyer, but by this point that fact is more than clear. The author may have been all but illiterate even in middle school, but is now a published writer and that is all well and good and it should be an inspiration to some people. But nobody is ever going to confuse the level of writing in the book with great literature. It is more akin to reading something posted on social media. Which is also perfectly fine since that is going to appeal to a great many of the author’s fans, but as a work of inspiration it can only go so far.
