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Book of the Week: You Can’t Touch My Hair is a funny and compelling read

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Using humour and pop culture, Phoebe Robinson shares stories of being a woman in comedy — who just so happens to be black

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(Image courtesy of Plume)

By: Grace Rose

At its heart, You Can’t Touch My Hair  (fully titled You Can’t Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have To Explain) is a collection of personal essays and reflections that tells the story of a 20-something-year-old woman trying to figure life out — yet it just so happens that she is a 20-something-year-old black woman in the US. Using pop culture and humour, she disarms her readers as she tells stories of growing up black in the midwestern US and then moving to New York to pursue her comedy.

     From sharing uncomfortable stories about being the only black woman in her university writing class and having to read the n-word over and over, to the laugh-out-loud open letter to her two year old biracial niece, Robinson balances the serious and the silly in a brilliant way. It often reads like a conversation you’re having with a friend, albeit a friend that’s way funnier than you.  

“Robinson balances the serious and the silly in a brilliant way.”

     This book would be incomplete if it did not have any sort of mention or discussion of hair. She talks about her own journey to self-acceptance of her natural hair and even includes a bit of history to educate the reader on the importance of the relationship between black women and their hair. Her comedic voice shines especially in these moments as you are welcomed into a very intimate conversation and taught about this immense history in a fun and approachable way.

Warning: if you’re easily embarrassed, don’t read this book on transit. You will laugh out loud.

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society