Samantha Irby

Samantha Irby's new book is Wow, No Thank You.

From the transcript of her interview with NPR's Scott Simon:

SIMON: Your devoted fans know some of the most intimate details about you because you hold nothing back. But what would you like our listeners to know?

IRBY: Oh, that despite how maybe gross and offensive my work may seem on the surface that it really is accessible for lots of different types of people, that, like, don't be scared by what people say about it. Give it a try.

SIMON: Yeah. I'm glad I did.

IRBY: (Laughter).

SIMON: Like me, you're from the North Side of Chicago. And so to purloin a famous line from "Blazing Saddles," what's a sophisticated urbanite like you doing in Kalamazoo, Mich.?

IRBY: Well, I moved here because my wife already lived here, and I was really resistant because I hate change. But once you see what it costs to live in a town like Kalamazoo, it was pretty easy to make the choice, especially since I'm a writer and, you know, that notoriously pays absolutely nothing (laughter). So in order to keep writing my jokes that don't pay very much, it was pretty much a no-brainer.

SIMON: And also it occurred to me as I was reading your book, you know, some of the great humor writing has always been by the fish out of water, isn't it? And that's what you are in Kalamazoo now.

IRBY: Yeah. When I sat down to...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue