Gina's childhood and adolesence are described in vivid detail, and although my own experience of growing up was very different from Gina's, there were so many themes and cultural motifs I recognised! Perhaps they prefer that it’s not in adult film or crime, but fame has a way of pacifying even what are considered the most "shameful" acts or professions. The first half of the book is about her upbringing in a British Nigerian family and the conflicts and cultural differences that come with living with an immigrant parent, but the second half is very much a deep dive into how Gina cultivated her comedy career.

The memoir is about the history of the author's life and what it was like growing up as the daughter of two Nigerian immigrants in the U. A collection of eccentric, addictive, and uproarious stories that combine family, race, gender, class, and country, Cack-Handed reveals how Gina’s unconventional upbringing became the foundation of her successful career as an international comedian.I'm happy that Gina has found her success across the pond, as she has put in a lot of work to get there. Gina also explains in the book that her left-handedness caused her a fair amount of trouble when she was a child because her mother tried to knock it out of her. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get caught up on her appearance in Season 2 of The Standups on Netflix. For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password.

Not believing her life was difficult enough, she later left engineering to become a stand up comic, appearing on numerous television shows and becoming one of the top comedians in the UK, before giving it all up to move to the US, a dream she’d had since she was six years old, watching American kids on television, riding cool bicycles, and solving crimes. A couple of niggles I had with the book: Gina starts off with an account of the history of Benin (which I am very familiar with and I believe showcases poignantly the deeply racist and colonial attitudes of the British in the 19th century) but which is told in an overly simplified language as if the book is addressed to an audience that can barely read. Of course, you'll want to read it yourself, first, so that when Mom starts citing some of the random lines at you you'll get the jokes. It’s her well-evoked earliest years which pull you into her story, though, built loosely around a family legend that considers her the resurrection of her murdered Nigerian grandmother, Patience, destined to fulfil a prophecy that she would ‘speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man’a job and travel the world as a free spirit’. She talks about the gender discrimination of breaking into a traditional male-dominated career as an engineer and how that all heralded her leaving for the uncertainty of the entertainment industry.I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Gina has a really easy to read style to her writing and it made reading this book a pleasure, it's rare to find a book that you look forward to picking up at any chance you get but this was one of those books. ACT Contact / FAQ About Events / Videos Merch / Subs Sign in/up Cack-Handed : A Memoir Gina Yashere More by this author.