Review: Nobody Asked for This

In an effort to broaden my reading horizons, while also continuing to try to read as many Canadian titles as possible, I put Nobody Asked for This by Georgia Toews on my ever-expanding TBR. It’s more “literary” than I’d normally go for and even though I’m still not sure what I thought of it, I’ve been thinking about it on and off ever since I finished it in mid-April. And that says something about the quality of the writing and the impact of the story.

Here’s the book’s description:

Virginia is twenty-three and a stand-up comedian. In between working the rounds of Toronto’s small comedy club circuit and auditioning for paper towel commercials, she is tiptoeing around her depressed roommate and childhood friend, Haley, and having biweekly dinners with her bereaved stepdad, Dale, while trying to manage her own grief at the loss of her mother. She is also secretly working to get the green card that will be her ticket to L.A. and, she hopes, a glittering comedy career.

But when Dale tells her that he wants to sell their family home, and when a date with a fellow comic turns into a shattering encounter, she is forced to confront the limits of comedy—and friendship. Not every experience can be neatly packaged into a “bit,” and not every friendship is meant to last.

By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Nobody Asked for This reaches into the messy depths of love, friendship, grief and trauma and, like all the best jokes, is utterly unpredictable.

So, how does one talk about a book that features a twentysomething stand-up comedian who gets raped by a fellow comic? That was a question I was asking myself while reading Toews’ novel because I had the great pleasure of interviewing her in April at a library event. The story is smart and funny but also oh so emotional. Not only does Virginia get sexually assaulted, but her friend (and roommate) is trying to manage a severe bout of depression that neither of them knows how to deal with. It’s a lot. I still don’t know for sure if I hit the right notes but the crowd seemed to have a good time and Toews was an absolute delight.

Reading this book felt like a different experience than I’ve had with other books and I think it came down to how Toews wrote dialogue. It was both extremely effective and yet sometimes frustrating. Weird place for a reader to be, let me tell you. Toews wrote exactly how people speak, sometimes stumbling and meandering while they get to their point. It can be hard to read at times but it was very authentic and completely suited the story.

One of the things in this book that really resonated with me was the relationship between Virginia and Haley. They’ve been best friends for years and now they’re roommates. They’re starting to realize - but can’t really accept - that maybe their friendship has run its course. Neither of them is giving the other what she needs and any previous harmony they may have had seems to have disappeared. It was such a powerful and relatable relationship, even if the particulars are different. I think many women have felt that same conflict with friendships over the course of their lives and Toews hit the feelings perfectly. I also really liked that she contrasted this friendship with the relationships Virginia has with other female comedians. That contrast really illustrated how problematic her friendship with Haley had become. It was so well done.

Oh, and in case you’re thinking, hey that name, Toews, sounds familiar…you’re right. It does. Georgia Toews is the daughter of CanLit mega-star, Miriam Toews (who wrote such books as Women Talking, which was adapted into an Oscar award winning movie).

Nobody Asked for This was a well-written and thought-provoking novel by Canadian author Georgia Toews. I’m really glad I had the chance to read it - even if I’m still sort of working out how I felt about it!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Doubleday Canada (Penguin Random House Canada), via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*