How Not To Be a Boy | 
pickThis memoir, by comedian Robert Webb, is as consistently funny, as you'd expect, and he makes some valid points to make about the toxic masculinity of the culture he and I both come from. Famous people writing about what dicks they were as teenagers is a venerable genre, and while not quite Clive James this is definitely worth a read.
pick#booked2020 parent and child memoir. A bk abt how masculinity can corrupt as Robert webb with yng children of his own confronts his deficiencies as father + husband by revisiting how his experience with a violent father +other parental loss shape him. V honest, at times i found this bk very moving as he expresses issues of masculinity which many men will understand and wish were not pervasive.
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft
pickWell written. Making the serious funny. More than just an autobiography. Really changed my perception of Robert Webb and men in general. He makes you think.
pickA book for everybody- as a woman and a feminist this book gave me an insight into a world I thought existed but had never seen. A refreshingly honest account of the male experience, Webb reflects on his life with humour and masterful retrospection. A brilliant read.
pickThis was a joy to read. Webb, a writer and comedian, grew up in a working class Lincolnshire village, having very clear notions of what it means to be a man drummed in to him from an early age. This book explains how that upbringing shaped his future actions with humour, honesty and humility. He managed to take me with him the whole way, highlighting his greatest mistakes while never losing sight of his privilege as a man 🌟🌟🌟🌟
#BoysDontCry #AnglophileApril
I feel I must confess that when I typed the title of this book into the search, my predictive text, after I'd typed "how not to be a....", suggested 'c**t'. I wish someone would write that book.
@Mdargusch @emilyhaldi @Reviewsbylola @Cinfhen
pickThis is EXCELLENT. Webb shares his story in a way that is funny, deep, insightful, at times painful, & always full of heart.
This is the first book I‘ve read looking at the destructiveness of living in a patriarchal society from a male perspective. I think it‘s an important contribution to the conversation about gender equality.
If you‘re interested in this book make sure to look up a video where the author explains what he calls “The Trick”.
pickMemoirs make me uncomfortable: it's the knowing so much deeply personal stuff about a complete stranger that I might feasibly bump into in Waterstones.
Has this book raised the profile of the harm caused by gender conditioning? Maybe. (All it took was for a man to acknowledge and write about it: who knew?!) But... Robert Webb is very funny. And surprisingly moving. I snorted with laughter, wiped a tear from my eye and had a quiet rage to myself.
“... It starts with having a family who loves you and someone who inspires you to read. Not because reading makes you smart, although it helps, but because to involve yourself in a story is to imagine what it‘s like to be someone else. Generally, boys aren‘t much encouraged to do that.”
#LibraryHaul !
Since I don‘t have 3,082 unread books at home (no, not really).
And on a side note - the coffee tables at this cafe are made from old doors.
pickFinished this gem by one of my favourite humans! Would recommend!
Anyone else doing the Book Riot Read Harder challenge? This is for task #12, a celebrity memoir. I love Robert Webb! #readharder
Just started this book and really enjoying his exploration of gender stereotypes.
pickLoved this! A truly honest story of growing up being a little different, not always being perfect and the struggle of the expectation to conform to gender stereotypes. Highly recommend. #autobiography #memoir #comedy
pickLoved this! An honest story of growing up being a little different, not always being perfect and the expectation to conform to gender stereotypes. Highly recommend.
pickThis seemed to take ages to read despite being only a short book, but I liked it. It‘s a really honest book, Webb is obviously the hero of his own story, but he‘s flawed and human just like the rest of us. He‘s also funny, scared, sad and ultimately optimistic! Worth a read.
I think it‘s obvious from my goofy smile how stoked I was to meet Robert Webb! Saw him speak at Cheltenham Literature festival and it‘s definitely inspired me to read his book 😍🤓📚 #cheltlitfest #robertwebb #hownottobeaboy
Epic book post from the wonderful @DeborahSmall today. All three are signed too!
pickThis book made me laugh a lot, and it also made me cry now and again. A really well thought out book. Incidentally, Robert Webb comes from near where my dad and grandparents live/ lived, and I found myself reading all of his family's parts in a Lincolnshire accent 😆
This is so true about why we should read - but we all know that, don't we!😊 Oh, and the word 'pissed' here, is in the British English sense of 'very drunk'😉
pickI've spent the last few days convincing total strangers that I'm mad and I've done this by laughing out loud and diving while listening to this on my walk to/from work. It's blisteringly honest about his life and the effect of traditional expectations of masculinity and Webb doesn't shy from exposing the times he (and others) have even accidentally fallen for "the Trick". Moving, enraging and very, very funny, I recommend the audio in particular.
I listened to Robert Webb reading from his book, How Not to Be a Boy, on BBC Radio 4 this morning. So, so good.
In particular, look up an interview about a concept that he discusses called "the trick". His daughter one day, trying to understand the concept of patriarchy, said something like, "is that the trick that makes boys sad and women get crap jobs?" ?
Strangely, I also bought the memoir of his comedy partner, David Mitchell, today.
