By: Rose Caisley '26
Photo Courtesy of Hachette Books
When looking for life advice, you generally want to steer in the opposite direction of comedians. As a profession, comedy preys on the unfortunate, which oftentimes takes the form of the comedians themselves. But as I went on vacation this spring break, I just happened to pick up a book by my favorite comedian Iliza Shlesinger, Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity. I had hoped to find some funny anecdotes or perhaps some witty bards to fling at my enemies, but instead found a genuinely sincere grappling with feminism and the female mind, about how we can be so contrary and yet so predictable. The book is filled with advice that applies to the situations Shlesinger describes in her comedy routine, drunken nights out, first dates, and all other forms of potentially disastrous social events as well as heartbreaking stories of career setbacks, losses, and emotional turmoil.
It would be easy enough to convince you to read this book on out-of-the-context quotes alone. Want to find out what the phrase "what doesn't kill you should have tried harder, and just leaves you kind of annoyed" means, then read the book {an alternate quote here could be "point is, my life hasn't been all hand jobs and lollipops" but I don't know if that is too explicit fo DSJ] But Shlesinger has more to offer. From chapters like "You're a Woman--Be Confident" to "Oh Boy, It's a Guys' Girl," she deftly deconstructs the "logic" that defines women's actions and perceptions of society, why we treat each other the way we do, our pursuit of perfection, and how we can achieve everything we want in life, with a little elbow grease. With advice about finding a passion that you can do "over and over again and never grow tired of" and about how to "teach people how to treat you" and not take no for an answer, Shlesinger navigates the choppy waters of careers, love lives, and friendships with lessons everyone can learn from.
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