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A review by dgrobins
Is It Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth)? by Zach Zimmerman

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.0

Zimmerman perfectly captured my feelings about visiting the South in a chapter that comedically explores his struggle to maintain his individuality and healthy habits while returning home to visit family. IYKYK. He writes:

“There’s a tension in southern air—the strange bedfellows of homophobia and humidity, and the ever-present terror that the person you were might be long behind you, but they are still breathing down your neck” (p.10).

Yet, IIHIH? is, in all seriousness, a funny, fast-paced book that I devoured from cover to cover in less than 32 hours. Zimmerman doesn’t just tackle topics; he recounts his coming of age—accepting his sexuality, losing his birth religion, searching for love, acclimating to an Ivy League college as a low-income student, moving to a major metro (NYC), and incorporating life lessons learned while navigating the highs and lows of transitioning from one’s 20s into their 30s.

IIHIH? has a similar feel to Just By Looking at Him by Ryan O’Connell and Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane—hilarious and honest, yet deeply aware of the complexities of navigating life in the margins. These essays made me LOL while others, despite their brevity, struck me with their depth. This was my first time being introduced to a comedian through literature. I appreciated this debut and it made me want to check out more of Zimmerman and his stand up. What a treat.