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  • Some of My Best Friends

  • And Other White Lies I’ve Been Told
  • Written by: Tajja Isen
  • Narrated by: Tajja Isen
  • Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

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Some of My Best Friends

Written by: Tajja Isen
Narrated by: Tajja Isen
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Publisher's Summary

A fearless and darkly comic essay collection about race, justice and the limits of good intentions from the editor in chief of Catapult.

In this stunning debut collection, award-winning voice actor and cultural critic Tajja Isen explores the absurdity of living in a world that has grown fluent in the language of social justice but doesn’t always follow through.

These nine daring essays explore the sometimes troubling and often awkward nature of that discord. Some of My Best Friends takes on subjects including the cartoon industry’s pivot away from color-blind casting, the pursuit of diverse representation in the literary world, the law’s refusal to see inequality, and the cozy fictions of nationalism. Throughout, Isen deftly examines the quick, cosmetic fixes society makes to address systemic problems and reveals the unexpected ways they can misfire.

In the spirit of Zadie Smith, Cathy Park Hong, and Jia Tolentino, Isen interlaces cultural criticism with her lived experience to explore the gaps between what we say and what we do, what we do and what we value, and what we value and what we demand.

©2022 Tajja Isen (P)2022 Doubleday Canada
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What the critics say

Named one of the best books of 2022 by The Globe & Mail • CBC Books • Daily Hive

"A collection of personal essays brilliantly weaving through the author's life while offering pointed cultural criticism, Some of My Best Friends is . . . a perceptive analysis on how Black expression has been stifled across industries."—The Globe and Mail

"The often hilarious, always thought-provoking essay collection examines issues that have long preoccupied Isen, like questions about race and equity and how they intersect with culture."ELLE Canada

"[A] useful and entertaining tome. . . . Singular in its erudition, wit, humanity and power. The talent perhaps most identified with Isen is her voiceover work, much of it in cartoons. Now, in prose, she channels her inside voice to magic effect. . . . Every essay is a small refracting jewel. . . . This is a superb book."—Winnipeg Free Press

What listeners say about Some of My Best Friends

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Tajja’s performance is a pleasure to listen

Her stunning collection of essays read by her is a delight to from start to finish.

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Love

This is a gorgeously told series of essays and listening to it is a dream because the author who is a voice actor reads it herself! 10/10.

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