Ten Steps to Nanette

Hannah Gadsby had a lot of strikes against her; she grew up queer (and deeply closeted), on the autism spectrum, and with undiagnosed ADHD in conservative, homophobic, closed-minded Tasmania, Australia. But Gadsby doesn't want your pity, she wants to explain how she created a ground-breaking Netflix special from the traumas she experienced (and the unconventional but genuine love she received from her parents and 4 older siblings). And then she pretty much wants all cishet white men to fuck off.

The book runs a little long (and never gets around to the fun stuff like how she met her wife), but it helped me understand what it's like to have an atypical brain and to experience the world very differently from normies. Gadsby's description of the creative process she uses in her comedy (or “comedy”) is enlightening. Sadly, reading about the virulent anti-queer attitudes and legislation that Tasmania and the rest of Australia experienced in the mid 1990s only magnifies the horror of what's happening now with queer rights at risk.

I think it helps to have seen Nanette to get the most out of this book. It's not necessary, but if you missed it when it made such a splash in 2018, you should definitely watch it. Whether on stage or on the page Gadsby tells her unique truth, and you can't walk away unscathed.