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The Rubbish Lesbian
Funny, honest, and disarmingly revealing about her own insecurities; popular DIVA magazine columnist Sarah Westwood gathers together a selection from her hilarious back catalogue with some exclusive new material in this first Kindle edition. Humorous columns explore the myriad of ways she feels like a rubbish lesbian and the uncountable ways other people are rubbish around lesbians. Topics include funny coming out stories, the mystery of lesbian sex, getting a lesbian haircut by mistake, a slippery grasp of boob etiquette, and playing the pronoun game at work.
189 pages, Paperback
First published December 9, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 12, 2014
If there's anything I will warn about this book, it's that reading it on public transport is probably to be avoided. Only two books have me laugh so hard I've got unwelcoming stares from strangers who look deeply concerned. This was one of them.
Sarah Westwood is a genius. There, I said it. From awkwardness to hilarity, Westwood covers it ALL in her columns and makes you feel slightly less alone in the stage of being a complete and utter rubbish lesbian.
The Rubbish Lesbian is a column featured in Diva Magazine (an L&B mag from Europe) and Westwood's feature is also loved, because it's fantastic. The book is split into stages with each stage having numerous columns in that fit that theme.
Some of my favourites include a snapshot of her and a girlfriend getting ready for a parent visit and having to "de-gay" their house and just pretend to be room-mates. Priceless.
If you like funny books, you should read this. And if you don't like funny books? A. What? and B. Read it anyway. Hands down this is the funniest book I've read in a very long time. And ultimately, it's comforting. Escapism and "representation seeking" - for lack of a better phrase - is a huge part of our generations culture, and Westwood is an icon for LGBT people; especially those who feel like they're doing it wrong in world that was formed from stereotype.
The Rubbish Lesbian will leave you hurting at your sides and wanting more stories, Sarah Westwood is certainly something special, and far from a rubbish writer.
Sarah Westwood is a genius. There, I said it. From awkwardness to hilarity, Westwood covers it ALL in her columns and makes you feel slightly less alone in the stage of being a complete and utter rubbish lesbian.
The Rubbish Lesbian is a column featured in Diva Magazine (an L&B mag from Europe) and Westwood's feature is also loved, because it's fantastic. The book is split into stages with each stage having numerous columns in that fit that theme.
Some of my favourites include a snapshot of her and a girlfriend getting ready for a parent visit and having to "de-gay" their house and just pretend to be room-mates. Priceless.
If you like funny books, you should read this. And if you don't like funny books? A. What? and B. Read it anyway. Hands down this is the funniest book I've read in a very long time. And ultimately, it's comforting. Escapism and "representation seeking" - for lack of a better phrase - is a huge part of our generations culture, and Westwood is an icon for LGBT people; especially those who feel like they're doing it wrong in world that was formed from stereotype.
The Rubbish Lesbian will leave you hurting at your sides and wanting more stories, Sarah Westwood is certainly something special, and far from a rubbish writer.
January 16, 2016
Sarah Westwood came out a little later on in life and had to learn the lesbian ropes after a series of boyfriends and whilst hanging out in a straight crowd. This collection of endearingly self-effacing articles, many of which have previously been published in Diva (UK lesbian) magazine, lays bare Sarah's rubbish attempts at shoehorning herself into a lesbian lifestyle. The articles are a tad hit and miss on the humour front. But overall, I laughed out loud an outstanding number of times. It's funny stuff.
May 11, 2020
Funny and relatable. Like most such compilations though they become a bit predictable when my presented in this format.
September 22, 2014
This book is a compilation of Sarah Westwood’s ‘Rubbish Lesbian’ columns in Diva magazine with some exclusive new material (all together now: ooooo!). As someone who hasn’t read Diva in a while, it was all new material to me and I was intrigued!
Now to be honest, I was expecting a slightly more… well… finished article! The book was literally a collection of her columns – which don’t get me wrong, was exactly what it said on the tin! It was just that I had expected that the columns might have been reworked into slightly longer prose or perhaps even into a series of short-but-longer-than-columns articles…I expected slightly smoother transitions from story to story, but instead they felt as if they had been lifted directly from the pages of Diva and transplanted directly into this book, meaning that for me it was a rather jolty read. The columns are so short (on average two pages give or take) which gives a rather superficial introductory feel to all her writing not really getting to the heart of the issue, or resolving anything.
I think that this is particularly disappointing because the topics Westwood covers are interesting, familiar even. They feel like a conversation that I could have had with any of my friends, but with nothing much added by the fact I had to part with some of my hard-earned-cash for the privilege. From the lesbocism (a process of desexualising your lesbian life for the benefit of family, or particularly delicate friends) to negotiating the relationship with your girlfriend’s parents. From answering questions from idiots like “who’s the man”; to the embarrassment of first entering a sex shop (although I think her suggestion of ‘smash and grab’ has a one in a million probability of you leaving with something you actually want and instead you will inevitably leave with a penis extender or something equally unhelpful – either embrace the awkwardness, or shop online!).
For a fun, light laugh or a quick read when you’re not up for thinking, or feeling too much it’s great! But if you’re looking for something that might develop or challenge your thinking then this is not for you! Thank you Sarah Westwood for a quick distraction on a long plane ride!
http://thegayagendauk.wordpress.com/2...
Now to be honest, I was expecting a slightly more… well… finished article! The book was literally a collection of her columns – which don’t get me wrong, was exactly what it said on the tin! It was just that I had expected that the columns might have been reworked into slightly longer prose or perhaps even into a series of short-but-longer-than-columns articles…I expected slightly smoother transitions from story to story, but instead they felt as if they had been lifted directly from the pages of Diva and transplanted directly into this book, meaning that for me it was a rather jolty read. The columns are so short (on average two pages give or take) which gives a rather superficial introductory feel to all her writing not really getting to the heart of the issue, or resolving anything.
I think that this is particularly disappointing because the topics Westwood covers are interesting, familiar even. They feel like a conversation that I could have had with any of my friends, but with nothing much added by the fact I had to part with some of my hard-earned-cash for the privilege. From the lesbocism (a process of desexualising your lesbian life for the benefit of family, or particularly delicate friends) to negotiating the relationship with your girlfriend’s parents. From answering questions from idiots like “who’s the man”; to the embarrassment of first entering a sex shop (although I think her suggestion of ‘smash and grab’ has a one in a million probability of you leaving with something you actually want and instead you will inevitably leave with a penis extender or something equally unhelpful – either embrace the awkwardness, or shop online!).
For a fun, light laugh or a quick read when you’re not up for thinking, or feeling too much it’s great! But if you’re looking for something that might develop or challenge your thinking then this is not for you! Thank you Sarah Westwood for a quick distraction on a long plane ride!
http://thegayagendauk.wordpress.com/2...
December 30, 2018
Really funny book. Collated from columns from DIVA magazine about one girls journey in coming out and going through all of the pratfalls of society. My only criticism was the size of each chapter/column, as I found them too short to be invested in her story. Funny and entertaining but no real depth. Probably best kept in the magazine or if you are going to adapt them into book form, do what many others have done and write something more substantial based on the columns. Many have done this quite easily, so there was no real excuse for the laziness. Very witty though.
January 1, 2018
This collection contains many funny columns that I can relate to a lot, others I couldn't relate too and some were just entertaining stories. I will go back to this book whenever I feel alone with my problems.
Edit: Turns out, I didn't remember this book to be very good so I changed my rating to 3 stars.
Edit: Turns out, I didn't remember this book to be very good so I changed my rating to 3 stars.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews