Some of Our Parts: Why We Are More Than the Labels We Live By

by Laura Kennedy

"I have worn a lot of labels, by choice and otherwise. Here, I consider the ones I've picked up, rejected, lost, had stuck to my back like a 'kick me' poster in the schoolyard at lunch time, worn for a while and lost connection to. In its way, each one makes a discrete claim on who I am, as the labels you bear do for you. Each one is a means of translating who we are to the world and, when seen as the most important or truest element of who we are, shrinking and flattening us. Each one is part of our story, nothing more."

A thought-provoking exploration of identity, Some of Our Parts casts a philosophical eye over the labels that shape our lives, considering how they can both help us to communicate our values and how they have the potential to trap us.

A memoir explored through a life in labels inherited, accrued and cast off, Some of Our Parts considers the power in reclaiming our own story and challenges readers to question how we define ourselves in a world that is so ready to decide for us.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Biography, Irish Literature, Psychology, Philosophy, Memoir

181 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 19, 2024

Reviews

[Philip Magnier · Rating 4 out of 5]

After taking private tests Ms Kennedy was diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum in her early 30s. She doesn't seem to have been surprised, having been called variations of weird (and worse) many times in her life.

She also has acute intelligence and a fine talent for prose including a vocabulatory to be envied.

This book combines reminicences with intellectual speculation on a series of labels she has endured. Though with some of them like "mad" I get the impression that she herself might have done much of the labelling.

I've read her in the past because she has an exceptionally independent mind. One of her labels is feminist and in the beauty industry to which she has belonged the assumption is of course that all women are. She demurs and cites the dissonance between what is written and what simply is: marraige is archaic and patriachal but most over 35s in the industry are married; overweight is okay but most are on diets; motherhood is questionable but most have babies or plan them. It's a well-argued chapter embedded in personal stories of her life in, and before, working as a beauty editor.

Other chapters include conversations on Irishness, race, and poverty. It's a fairly unique smorgasbord of styles within each chapter that somehow works. Humour is ever present and without a doubt she is harder on herself than any other individual she mentions, particularly on herself as an adolesent.

She's lived in Ireland, the UK, and Australia, was born and reared in poverty and deprivation, and is married to a guy of mixed race. Laura Kennedy has lived a bit and pondered life even more. This book is a good distillation of her experiences and really entertaining.

[Rita Egan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting listen. Part self help, part memoir:

Philosophy, class, race, neurodiversity, Irishness, academic hierarchy, the various ways we label ourselves, that others label us by and how we have the right to speak, to be (would be) and to stand wherever and however we choose for ourselves.

Fascinating.

[Síomha Ní Ruairc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this so much. A refreshing perspective on social labels that had me nodding aggressively every 5 seconds. I listened to the audio book but am intent on buying a physical copy to underline all that resonated with me.

[Eoin O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I'm considering listening to it again.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is interesting and captivating and i recommend this book. It is part biography part philosophy part general observations. I have always been interested in the concept of identity and labels and this book is a much awaited deep dive into this. I loved how she talked about the different labels in different chapters and discussed why we are more than the sum of our parts.

It fully deserves 5 stars if it weren't for the autism chapter. It seems judgemental towards people who view autism as a valid part of their identity. She dismisses assessors as giving out diagnoses for money and how people who don't have "severe" autism use autism "as an excuse" for being rude. Which really is doing the autism community a disservice. Most autistic people don't mean to be rude, they just are perceived as such as the social rules are not always clear. Autism is not an excuse, but it is a better explanation thand hers ("being a dick"). While she might not have a good relationship with the label i think she could extend others more grace to identify with it.

[Martha.O.S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a fascinating exploration of labels, labels we put on ourselves or ones that society puts on us. It looks at how reductive they can be and how meaningless they render our lives. By attempting to pigeon-hole our identity into something it may or may not be, we are prevented from what Laura Kennedy refers to as “emerging”: growing into ourselves by rising out of our very messy, multi-faceted, beautifully undefinable beings. I loved it.

I had come across Laura Kennedy in various podcasts she participated in and her writing as a beauty editor for The Irish Times, and she has a really unique voice, a very quirky, but honest way of seeing things and an ability to express it very eloquently. I always find myself smiling in recognition at some of the things she articulates, and as a philosopher, her tendency is to question things that are assumed and accepted as norms. The question of identity is a big one, and because most of us want to neatly pin down exactly who we are into an ordered package, labels are the way we do it.

The book explores all the different ways we label ourselves and others, from feminism, race, class, neurodivergent, to mention just a few and each is explored through research and facts and real life examples from Laura Kennedy’s own life. I really liked this blending of approaches and felt that the personal experiences really brought home the points she was making.

She speaks of coming from a working class background but because of her mother’s ambition for herself and her brother, and her tireless effort to eliminate any trace of the Limerick accent, she was not held back in the decidedly middle-to-upper class Trinity where she would spend a decade doing her doctorate in philosophy. There were plenty of other obstacles besides in this establishment that demanded a guarded reading of social cues to fit in, if this makes ones path through easier, and admittedly it does. She now has her KeepCup with Pepsi Max; it’s important not to completely concede personal taste!

I really enjoyed this book. It was clever, ironic, funny, sad and very interesting. She assures us at the beginning of the book that she has no answers and reiterates this again at the end. But that’s the whole point. Philosophy is about asking questions, about not blindly accepting the status quo, about seeing with new eyes, about searching for meaning and finding it in the most unlikely places, about discarding labels and embracing the messy alternatives, seeing the thing itself and recognising the possibility.

[Amy :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the language and details sprinkled in this philosophical piece are important to understand how humans seek out and fall into labels.

Exploring neurodivergence, the blunt nature of children's questions and how we carve a path to the unknown. Kennedy does such with class and wit - everything is so intentional which and packed with metaphorical examples that ooze charm.


It's frankly poetic for a book about homecomings of understanding one's self Kennedy has worked out a formula of celebrating our individuality unconditionally.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book asking "silly little big questions" and taking the reader through thoughts, feelings, opinions regarding those. As someone that hates labels and how they can feel restricting and prescriptive, it was an interesting read :)

also, reminds us that asking questions for the sake of asking questions rather than getting a conclusive answer is inherently very valuable.

[Orla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was such a refreshing take and perspective. I laughed out loud in places, saw myself in parts and just wanted to hear more from Kennedy and her sharp wit and high quality writing.

[Cait Poeer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. A nuanced take on the labels we apply to ourselves and those applied by others. This author is whip smart, and I would strongly recommend listening to the audio book for the full tonal experience.

[Elisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting exploration of labels and their failure to adequately encapsulate the sum of our parts (as the punny title suggests). The author has strong takes at times, but equally eloquently nails her lived experience. Short and honest.

[Jen O'Horror · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nuanced and interesting with excellent personal examples.

[Mark Cosgrave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good insights into Ireland and people. A voice that is not heard enough

[Robert Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm afraid to say that the writing within this book does reflect the authors much discussed autism. Its just too much and not enjoyable at all.

[Sarah Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this an odd chapter at a time between other books.
Interesting, thought-provoking and well-written. Always good to read something you don't vehemently agree with!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic read - and appropriately enough, a book that defies easy labelling.

If you're expecting an aloof, dispassionate exploration of all the themes of this book, Laura Kennedy will wrong-foot you with her frank and occasionally raw honesty about how each of the labels she mentions have directly affected her life.

If you're thinking it belongs in the self-memoir category, maybe that would do a disservice to her piercing insights into how social labels sit in wider society and her meticulous rigour in charting how much they can muddle our identities.

If you're thinking both of those descriptions make this book sound like it's hard-going, blame me for failing to convey how immensely readable (and frequently funny) it is - or listenable, if you have the Audible version winningly read by Laura herself.

This is a thoroughly entertaining treat - and a quietly fierce call to arms to us to reclaim our unique sense of self beyond all the social labels we've uncritically adopted or have had foisted upon us.

Quite brilliant in every way.

[Katie Kilgannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, it felt like listening to a very wise and cool friend give you advice that doesn’t make you want to kill yourself lol. This would make a yummy little Xmas present for the girlies in your life!!