Well, That Escalated Quickly by Franchesca Ramsey

In this sharp, funny, and timely collection of personal essays, veteran video blogger and star of MTV's Decoded Franchesca Ramsey explores race, identity, online activism, and the downfall of real communication in the age of social media rants, trolls, and call-out wars. Franchesca Ramsey didn't set out to be an activist. Or a comedian. Or a commentator on identity, race, and culture, really. But then her YouTube video "What White Girls Say...to Black Girls" went viral. Twelve million views viral. Faced with an avalanche of media requests, fan letters, and hate mail, she had two choices: Jump in and make her voice heard or step back and let others frame the conversation. After a crash course in social justice and more than a few foot-in-mouth moments, she realized she had a unique talent and passion for breaking down injustice in America in ways that could make people listen and engage. In her first book, Ramsey uses her own experiences as an accidental activist to explore the many ways we communicate with each other--from the highs of bridging gaps and making connections to the many pitfalls that accompany talking about race, power, sexuality, and gender in an unpredictable public space...the internet. WELL, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY includes Ramsey's advice on dealing with internet trolls and low-key racists, confessions about being a former online hater herself, and her personal hits and misses in activist debates with everyone from bigoted Facebook friends and misguided relatives to mainstream celebrities and YouTube influencers. With sharp humor and her trademark candor, Ramsey shows readers we can have tough conversations that move the dialogue forward, rather than backward, if we just approach them in the right way.

This is the third comedic memoir I've read by a black comedian. I don't really know what to make of that; I've certainly read non-comedic memoirs from African Americans, and comedic memoirs from white people, but three comedic memoirs from African-Americans in the last year seems a little surprising. They're all fairly new, maybe it's just what's been getting published recently? Or maybe it's just a coincidence and not yet a pattern. Or maybe it's my way of giving my brain a bit of a break from current events while still trying to read inclusively. That last one might be it.

Anyway. While I didn't like Ramsey's book as much as I did Trevor Noah's or Tiffany Haddish's books, I did really enjoy it. I didn't really know who Ramsey was before reading her book, and that might be why I didn't like it quite as much. This book deal with internet culture a lot more than the other two do; and that pertains to my interests. What I really enjoyed is that she talks about her missteps, how she was criticized for them, and admits that she was wrong and much of the criticism was needed. She explains how she corrected her own behavior in response and strove to be better, and that's something we don't see a lot of. We see half-hearted apologies and no change in behavior from a lot of internet celebrities, and Ramsey definitely tries her best to rectify her mistakes. I really liked reading about her experiences with that, as it can be such a touchy issue. No one likes to be called out. But sometimes we need to be so we can learn to be better.

I really enjoyed this one. I wouldn't say it dealt with racism more than Noah or Haddish's books did, but it definitely dealt with combatting racism more than they did. It talked about the activist aspect of it, and how to help.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

I was really enjoying this book for the first seven chapters. And then I started to understand why she claims so many haters and trolls.

For the first part of the book, Franchesca was an insightful narrator, sharing her experiences with social media fame. She was humble, self-aware and willing to share. But then she started dispensing her unasked-for opinions, reminding me why the term “social justice warrior” has such negative connotations for so many people . This change, interestingly, was marked by a shift in language from “I” to “you”. I have no interest in the moral superiority she thinks we would all feel if we would stop listening to R. Kelly and watching Game of Thrones and this exemplifies perfectly the problem with these youngsters: they always know exactly what we're all doing wrong but have no clue how to fix the problem. Don't even get me started about her tips on “self-care,” a term that healthy people employ with no real concept what it means to take care of yourself. She's not a bad writer but sigh, I cannot bear to have a narrator speak to me like I'm a recalcitrant child in need of correction.

I recommend reading chapters 1-7 and also 11 if you're bored, but just skip the rest of it, unless you're capable of mentally substituting “I” for every “you”, which seems like an unnecessary burden for most readers.

Thank you to Grand Central who sent me an advance review copy of this book.

3.5 The parts that are memoir are effortlessly readable. Franchesca is open and self-deprecating about the lifelong process of learning. The activist content is as titled, mostly introductory. There are some odd moments, regarding possible obsessions. Overall, it's relatable, light-hearted, and revealingly bold.