cover image It Gets Worse: A Collection of Essays

It Gets Worse: A Collection of Essays

Shane Dawson. Atria/Keywords, $16 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-5011-3284-1

Popular YouTube personality Dawson (I Hate Myselfie) exhibits his signature brand of twisted humor and neuroses in his second volume of personal essays. A number of these trace his artistic and professional development from a high school video project to a sobering experience filming his first feature film for a reality show and dealing with eviscerating reviews. He frankly discusses the journey to accepting his bisexuality, beginning in kindergarten with simultaneous crushes on the pretty blonde girl and the spiky-haired bullying boy. This journey is fraught with sadness, as when he describes his tendency to “fill the void... with food and other addictions,” and comedy, as he takes a trip down the rabbit hole of hook-up apps. His self-deprecating and outrageous humor is hit or miss, but at its best it deserves comparison to David Sedaris, whether he’s writing, “I’m the opposite of a party animal. I’m a funeral person” or recalling wearing a flamboyant T-shirt on the first day of middle school and boarding a Bible study bus for the free candy. A story about ending up at the Mexican border after a wrong turn, however, is completely unfunny and entirely lacks the drama he tries to manufacture. This decent if lopsided second effort from a writer still finding his voice should satisfy Dawson’s previously established fans. (July)