I recently finished reading Seth Rogen’s book Yearbook, and it was hilarious. Overall, it’s a nice, light and easy read that you could definitely get through in one sitting, or take your time with if you wanted. I feel like it would also make for a nice summer read, maybe a good book to bring to the beach if you don’t want anything serious or that you’ll get too invested in (like a mystery novel). Just some good old fashioned humour and entertainment!
I also may be a little biased with my enjoyment of this book, because it was nice to see Canadian references I could relate to while reading it. It’s always exciting to see fellow Canadians succeed in a creative field. I feel like we beam with pride when a famous person turns out to be from Canada. We love boasting about it – “did you know they’re Canadian?”
While I thoroughly enjoyed the entirety of the book (seriously, I don’t think there were any parts that I was trudging along to try and get through), these were some of my favourite parts that I keep thinking about since finishing it….
Nicolas Cage
I was both surprised and not surprised to find out how strange Nicolas Cage actually is. I mean, it’s not exactly like you can’t tell he’s a bit different, even when he’s playing a character. But I don’t know, maybe part of me thought he was just an awkward person or something – it’s like I knew he’d probably seem a little off if you ever interacted with him, but I also didn’t expect him to be so blatantly weird (for lack of a better term) around complete strangers. Most people would probably try to tone it down a bit, maybe get a feel for the people they’re meeting before unleashing the more unconventional parts of their personality. But hey, there’s also something a bit charming about a person being unapologetic about their strangeness.
Although he maybe seemed a bit odd based on his segments in the book, I gotta admit, I’m kind of in awe (and maybe a little jealous?) of his ability to just say “I gotta go” and leave abruptly in the middle of a conversation. How many times have I been feeling so done with an interaction and wanted to leave, but didn’t because I knew it would be rude, so I would just sit and suffer in silence? SO many times. Imagine just not giving a fuck and being like “Cool, bye” and ditching. Amazing, I wish I had that carefree attitude.
All in all, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during those meetings. It seems like the kind of thing where, although Seth Rogen did a great job describing it, you won’t get a full, proper sense of the awkwardness unless you’re physically there experiencing it. I think we’ve all had interactions that we reflect back on years later and wonder, “What the fuck was that?” This seems like one of those situations.
When he accidentally shit his pants
This was simultaneously hilarious and horrifying to read all at the same time. I can’t imagine there would be anything more humiliating and dehumanizing than shitting your pants, especially as a grown adult. Because adults should be able to control when they go to the bathroom or not, and nobody wants to shit their pants, so if it does happen it’s really against your control, and your body is probably not in it’s most peak physical state. But still, I feel like if you said to someone, “oh my god I just shit my pants” they’d probably look at you like you’re a disgusting animal, like you chose to just go poop in your pants instead of finding a toilet. So if you do shit your pants, your best option probably is just to try and hide it, which like, good luck, ’cause that would smell horrendous. And if you are lucky enough that it goes unnoticed, the paranoia of making the wrong move and having someone discover what you did would be too much for me to cope with.
Just the thought of him having to awkwardly walk his then-girlfriend (now wife) to her car, with shit in his pants, and pray that she wouldn’t smell it or see it…my God. It’s one of those situations that if funny enough I can laugh at if someone jokes about their own experience with it, but I would be traumatized if it ever happened to em. I don’t know if I’d be strong enough to live that down (or have a good enough sense of humour to publish the story in a book).
Steven Seagal
Oh, Steven.
It’s one thing to feel represented as a Canadian when reading a book or watching a movie…it’s an entirely other thing to feel represented by the mutual presence of Steven Seagal in your childhood. I think he’s one of those actors who many people aren’t familiar with (at least in my experience), but people who are, they understand how much of a very specific icon this man is. I say specific, because I feel like he’s in his own category. Are there other films similar to what he’s been in? Sure. But there’s nobody quite like him.
And although I’m not a Steven Seagal fan personally, I still get excited when other people bring him up in conversation.
My dad is Steven Seagal fan, which is the only reason I’m familiar with the actor. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a full Seagal movie, but I definitely have memories of his films being played in our house when I was growing up. It became a joke in our house that if my mom, brother, and myself were going out of town, but my dad had to stay home for work, we’d say he was going to hang out with his friend Steven, AKA he would finally get to watch his Steven Seagal movies in peace, and not have to listen to sarcastic remarks from the rest of us.
(I also just did a quick Google search to see if Seagal is Canadian too, because that would have been the cherry on top. But he’s not, unfortunately. He was, however, granted Russian citizenship? And he’s apparently good friends with Putin? Wild.)
Seinfeld
This one technically isn’t a part of the book that was a favourite, but deserves to be mentioned briefly.
I was so sad on behalf of little Seth Rogen for the Seinfeld incident. I feel like that is such a dick move, what he did, and if I were Seth Rogen, it would have felt like one of the biggest injustices of my life at that age. I would have felt completely robbed of a huge opportunity.
On the bright side, the Seinfeld incident didn’t seem to prevent Rogen from having a highly successful career, so I guess it wasn’t like a life-ruining tragic moment.
Anyways, I definitely recommend everyone go and read Yearbook. Even if you’re not totally familiar with Seth Rogen’s work, I still guarantee it will make for an entertaining read.
Until next time,
Nadine
nadinesnarratives.art.blog 