Faber to publish US comedian Samantha Irby’s We Are Never Meeting in Real Life in January 2019

‘Irby’s essays are by turns eye-wateringly hilarious and down-to-earth and authentic, delivering emotional punches that tell us about what it is to be human. An utterly talented and wickedly funny writer who deserves every success.’ Nikesh Shukla

As a writer and performer, Samantha Irby is a force of nature. Irby rose to prominence with her filthy, devastating and hilarious blog bitches gotta eat, where she explores a vast array of subjects – from awkward sexual encounters, explosive diarrhoea, the pleasures of porn and flirting, dead end job survival skills, to her experiences with depression, Crohn’s disease and degenerative arthritis – with equal parts wicked humour and pathos.

In We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Samantha Irby turns the serio-comic essay into an art form. She explores the miseries of trying to live up to the ideal of the Strong Black Woman when she just feels like an ‘old garbage bag full of blood patiently waiting for death’ and dispenses advice on how to navigate friendships with former drinking buddies who are now suburban moms. Whether talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making “adult” budgets or detailing a disastrous pilgrimage-slash-romantic-vacation to Nashville to scatter her estranged father’s ashes, she’s as deft at poking fun at the ghosts of her past self as she is at capturing powerful emotional truths.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life was a New York Times bestseller and sold over 100,000 copies in the US. Roxane Gay described the collection as ‘outstanding’ and ‘full of her signature humor, wit, and charming self-deprecation,’ adding, ‘I cannot remember the last time I was so moved by a book. We Are Never Meeting in Real Life is as close to perfect as an essay collection can get.’ The New York Times called Irby a ‘frank and madly funny blogger’ and ‘a sidesplitting polemicist for the most awful situations.’

Irby is currently developing her first book of essays, Meaty, for television with Abbi Jacobson (co-creator and co-star of Broad City) and Jessi Klein (Inside Amy Schumer head writer and consulting producer on Transparent). Faber will publish Meaty in 2020.

Samantha Irby says: ‘CRIKEY, I’M SO EXCITED FOR YOU TO READ MY BLOODY BOOK, MATE. Just kidding, I’m from Chicago, but excitement is universal.’

Louisa Joyner says: ‘Samantha Irby is one of my most joyous discoveries of the last year. It feels like a travesty that she wasn’t in my book life previously (especially with her enormous following in the US). Make way, lady with massive talent and a serious sense of humour coming through.’

Samantha Irby can be found on Instagram @bitchesgottaeat and on Twitter @wordscience 

For more information, please contact Maria Garbutt-Lucero, Publicity & Campaigns Manager, mariagl@faber.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)20 7927 3886