A memoir from comedian Amy Schumer in which she mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is.
The book instead offers, overall—for author and reader alike—a compelling kind of catharsis: It is, contrary to the postmodern parfait that is Schumer’s standard act, decidedly un-layered. It is Schumer, the celebrity, shedding Schumer, the schtick. It is a memoir that is also an unapologetic paean to self-love ... One one level, The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo is simply another memoir...But Schumer’s stories are really, particularly good ... Schumer had to learn, and earn, her swagger. And that is the most compelling aspect of her extremely compelling memoir.
Schumer has written a probing, confessional, unguarded, and, yes, majorly humanizing non-memoir, a book that trades less on sarcasm, and more on emotional resonance.
After some initial throat-clearing in the first 30 pages (the book's weakest), Schumer weaves a brave, vulnerable tale without falling into the usual celebrity traps of neediness and defense ... She's also hilarious, which manages to come through on the page.
