The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4", African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian
Written by W. Kamau Bell
Narrated by W. Kamau Bell
4/5
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About this audiobook
After all this love and praise, it's time for the next step: a book. The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell is a humorous, well-informed take on the world today, tackling a wide range of issues, such as race relations; fatherhood; the state of law enforcement today; comedians and superheroes; right-wing politics; left-wing politics; failure; his interracial marriage; white men; his up-bringing by very strong-willed, race-conscious, yet ideologically opposite parents; his early days struggling to find his comedic voice, then his later days struggling to find his comedic voice; why he never seemed to fit in with the Black comedy scene . . . or the white comedy scene; how he was a Black nerd way before that became a thing; how it took his wife and an East Bay lesbian to teach him that racism and sexism often walk hand in hand; and much, much more.
Editor's Note
Emmy Awards…
In case you couldn’t tell from the ridiculously long subtitle, comedian W. Kamau Bell’s thoughts are all over the place. No matter what he’s talking about, though, he’s thoughtful and funny. Bell’s “United Shades of America” won its third consecutive Emmy in 2019 for outstanding unstructured reality program.
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Reviews for The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell
108 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book-Hilarious and poignant. I will be referring this to all my friends!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If you don't already love Kamau, you probably won't enjoy this book. It's rambling and generally all over the place--like an oral history of how Kamau got progressively more woke. But honestly, that's why the book makes sense. The essays interspersed throughout are just so fabulously on point such as this wonderful take on the importance of Apollo Creed:
In the 1970s, he was the rare Black character in the movie who was clearly way smarter than the lead white character in the movie.
I wonder honestly if this is the sort of book that probably doesn't make sense to someone who hasn't had the same experiences as Kamau--a bit like how white and racialized people are watching two different movies in respect to the film "Get Out" for example. Nonetheless, it's a very entertaining read and you get the sense that Kamau is trying to convey the feeling of being both stigmatized and even doing the stigmatizing as genuinely as one could ask for. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved this. He's now on my list of people I'd like to have a real life conversation with.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I switched from reading the ARC to listening to the audiobook, which was, I think, a good decision. As I mentioned in my comment after my first update, it was kind of boring at the beginning. Thankfully, it got better in the second half when it got to the TV shows and then the "coffee shop incident".
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5W. Kamau Bell is a stand-up comedian, podcaster, and television host. I'm aware of him through his terrific Politically Re-Active podcast with Hari Kondabolu (currently on hiatus). I liked him enough from that to want to read his book. Much of The Awkward Thoughts is straight memoir. Bell's parents divorced when he was young and he grew up in Boston attending predominately white private schools. He describes himself as a "blerd" or Black nerd and distanced from the identifiers of Black culture. Since Bell and I were born in the same year, I found I could relate to a lot of the pop culture events he recounts.As a teenager he moved to Chicago at a time when Harold Washington was mayor and Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey were beginning their reign as world changing Black super-celebrities. Bell attended University of Pennsylvania, but dropped out, and then moved to San Francisco in the 1990s to attempt to break into the stand-up comedy scene right as the big stand-up boom of the 70s and 80s went bust. He finds his niche in a one-man show in which he made comedic observations on the state of racism in America. This lead to work on television, hosting Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell on FX and then United Shades of America on CNN, as well as many, many podcasts. Among the memoir bits, Bell reflects on many topics including sports (and why he doesn't enjoy them), Denzel Washington as the greatest actor of all time, the significance of Doc McStuffins, and the Rocky movies. He also worries about racism in America and the very real threat of a Black man like himself being killed by police or a vigilante. He details a significant incident when he was harassed by the staff of a coffee shop in his hometown of Berkeley, CA when he stopped to talk to his wife (who is white) and her friends at the sidewalk cafe. As a white reader, I was grateful that Bell takes the time to address what white people can do to confront racism (and give us a pep talk in the process) while relating his own experiences of what definitely does not help with racism.This is a funny and insightful book, and the audiobook is extra special in that Bell reads it in his warm voice.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Best for: Fans of decent memoir writing.
In a nutshell: Comedian and political commentator offers some insight into his perspective on life.
Line that sticks with me: “If there’s one thing that I learned from both of my parents, it is that you don’t need the paper to get the information.” (p33)
Why I chose it: The cover and subtitle (”Tales of a 6’4”, African-American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian”)
Review: I’m trying to figure out the best way to describe this book and my reaction to it. It was a nice, fun (thought not especially funny - which I think was the point), fairly quick read. It offered insight into Mr. Bell’s life. It tackled topics like race and sexism in a nuanced and clever way. But it didn’t leave me raving. It was like a perfectly fine dinner at a decent restaurant. Not going down in the top five meals (or books), but also not necessitating that I warn off others from experiencing it.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some rough parts - this isn’t a fluffy book. He tells some sweet stories, but also some challenging ones. Like his experiences being a Black star of a show dealing with heady topics like interviewing the KKK with a white showrunner who doesn’t really get it. Or his honesty in recognizing that some of his jokes, while spot on in the racial commentary category, were missing it with some thinly veiled (and unintentional) misogyny.
I also appreciate that, while I believe that books like this are often turned in pretty far in advance of their publication, I’m guessing he either edited or added some things to address the 2016 election.
Mr. Bell is a talented writer, and I enjoyed the stories he chose to tell. I would recommend this as a library book read for sure, or maybe pick it up when it’s available in paperback. I think if you enjoy memoirs, this is a good one to add to your list, especially if you want something refreshing and honest but not annoyingly self-deprecating.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I am a fan of Bell's work and, as such, was really looking forward to reading this. BUT, I am totally going to be a asshole here and say that, even for an ARC, this book was riddled with too many errors. The essays are smart and thoughtful and funny, but the need for proofreading and copy editing really got distracting and took away from my appreciation of Bell's message.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bell’s memoir covers his growth as a comedian and his career struggles. Bell is really funny and his thoughts on the state of politics today are completely relevant. Because of this book, I am checking out his podcast called “Denzel Washington Is The Greatest Actor Of All Time Period” because one cannot argue with the logic of that premise. Awkward Thoughts is a terrific book and about the only thing that could have made it better is if I had listened to the audiobook which is narrated by the author.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The title of this book is appropriate as it is indeed filled with awkward thoughts especially if you are a straight white male since it tackles such topics as race, sex, and homosexuality. He also focuses on his career and family and his blerd (black nerd) status as well as what it is like to be a towering Black man in the United States. By the way, he capitalizes the word Black because other words of identity such as Chinese, Christianity, and Klansmen are capitalized so he feels as do other Black scholars that it should be capitalized. So I too will capitalize it for this review.He has an interesting take on superheroes. His favorites are the Hulk and Spiderman because the Hulk is green and Spiderman is red and blue. Under Spidey's mask, he could be any color and the Hulk was green so both were appealing to a young Black man growing up in the 1970s and 1980s were those and Batman and Superman were the most popular superheroes. Yes, there were Black superheroes such as Black Panther, Black Vulcan, and Black Lightning, but these superheroes all had the word Black put in front of their name. It gives out a clue to their secret identity. Of course, there is Falcon, Cyborg, and Power Man. Cyborg could never hide his identity and Falcon was pretty lame. His power was talking to falcons. In the movie, they gave him cool wings and left out the talking bit. Power Man looked like a pirate in a ridiculous costume. Now he goes by the name of Luke Cage and is much cooler. He's also not big on the new trend of having people of color playing the iconic superheroes. Why not just have new superheroes of color? It's a valid question and one the major comic industries should be asking themselves.After many years of doing stand-up and not doing as well as he would have liked, Bell finally found his niche when he created the show The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour. It would be topical and informative while also being funny. After the first night of running it, he asked for feedback from a select group of friends and he got it. One of them, a woman, took him to task about his sexism in the show. And he learned a valuable lesson that it isn't enough to just be the better male comedian on sexism he must think about who he is hurting in his joke. If he is hurting someone else that doesn't need to be hurt. He would deal with others on this issue later in his life who didn't see things his way and he would have to fight them on it because sexism still exists inside writers' rooms on shows and in movies. He wonders why more women don't quit once they get inside these rooms for all the crap they have to put up with. The answer is simple: they want to change things and this is the only way.Bell also talks about the making of his two TV shows Unbiased and The United Shades of America. Unbiased came about due to Chris Rock taking an interest in him and aired on FX and then FXX. It started out as a weekly show then in its second season it went to a daily format, Monday through Thursday. He came to curse Chris Rock to some degree for that show. It very nearly ended his marriage. He was completely miserable doing it as he didn't have the control over the show he should have had. On Untied Shades of America, the first season was rough as the people he worked with didn't get what he was having to do like the KKK episode where they had gotten the footage they needed but didn't tell him and let him keep talking to the Klan which was dangerous for him.I somehow missed Unbiased but I've seen every episode of United Shades of America which is what prompted me to pick up this book and read it. While at times it's uncomfortable to read as a white person, I don't have a problem with that as I believe I should feel uncomfortable about the issue of race in America. It is a problem and one that won't be fixed overnight. But the other things he talks about in this book also make it worth reading, such as confronting and conquering his homophobia, his awkwardness over sports, his love of Denzil Washington, the Democratic Party, the Trump presidency, and the trials of being married with children to a white woman. This is a great book that explores a man's life in its many facets in a very fascinating way. I highly recommend it.QuotesIn San Francisco, “beach” means a cold, bleak place to take a walk and wonder what went wrong in your life.-W. Kamau Bell (The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6’4”, African-American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian p 240)
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- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I like Bell. He is smart, and funny, and takes an approach to political and social humor I like a great deal. His style feels to me similar to John Oliver's in its attempt to educate while embracing the absurdity and pathos (and sometimes true tragedy) inherent in this sort of subject matter. In other words, it doesn't stop with making you feel things and laugh, but wants you to learn things and laugh. I didn't learn a whole lot from Bell's book, far less than I learn on an average episode of his excellent CNN show, but I still appreciated the approach, and the vulnerability he brings to his work. I don't agree with much of his politics and I especially don't agree with his vision for the Democratic party (and if he really voted for Jill Stein I might have overestimated how smart he is) but his points are wise and well-considered and he seems like a pretty amazing guy. I loved the little bits we learned about his mother, whom I absolutely want to hang out with, and the rest of his family. Honestly this is probably more of a 3.5 for me, but I would heartily recommend it to my friends who struggle to understand the reality and costs of inherent bias and especially to my freinds who have a sense of humor and do not have the great gift of a diverse set of freinds and colleagues willing to have uncomfortable and honest conversations about race. Let that serve as a thank you to the people in my life who challenge me to listen to their truth. You know who you are.
1 person found this helpful