Cack-Handed: A Memoir

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I felt that her memoir could've been a bit more rounded, and would've loved to hear about when she chose to publicly come out; so much more could be been written on this issue, especially with her mother and the community she was raised in. I won't explain too much because I don't want to spoil anything but her childhood was not that nice. It's a shame that Caribbeans and Africans don't have the best of relationships, based on outdated views foisted on us by our parents, etc, because we have so much in common, in terms of our upbringing, beliefs and traditions.

I purchased the book because I was interested in learning about her comedy career but after finishing the book it only covered the first few years of it, that said I actually enjoyed reading about her early life and experiences a lot more than the comedy section.

She grew up in the poorer parts of London, raised with her siblings by a single mother who emigrated from Nigeria.

Gina also explains in the book that her left-handedness caused her a fair amount of trouble when she was a child because her mother tried to knock it out of her. I knew very little about Gina Yashere beforehand but after reading this I'd want to be a fan of hers even if I weren't familiar with her professional work.Empire and slavery casts a long shadow over the Yasheres (actually Iyasere is the real family name) and the comic skilfully raises some Home Truths about colonialism that has so defined history. I was sad to read about the racism she experienced as a child and adult, plus the prejudice from fellow black kids of west indian descent in school, making some of her school days a nightmare and also the antagonism from her fellow black male counterparts in the the UK comedy arena - this was really eye opening (hey Gina, how envious all these people must be of you now, you have made it big in the US, what are they actually doing now. Her journey, at least in its early stages, was, admittedly, a bit haphazard - but which comic’s isn’t? According to family superstition, Gina Yashere was born to fulfill the dreams of her grandmother Patience. Gina's mother pursued a private prosecution against him but the judge gave the man an absolute discharge.

It’s her well-evoked earliest years which pull you into her story, though, built loosely around a family legend that considers her the resurrection of her murdered Nigerian grandmother, Patience, destined to fulfil a prophecy that she would ‘speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man’a job and travel the world as a free spirit’. Oh this does sound good, especially as the author highlights those conflicts between people of Caribbean people African heritage. I laughed my ass off, cursed the a-holes and gained an even bigger respect for you and your culture. That humour is a good way to make a book like this accessible and readable while not diluting the messages.I learnt so much about African culture in the UK in the 70s and 80s (the time when Gina was growing up). Not believing her life was difficult enough, she later left engineering to become a stand up comic, appearing on numerous television shows and becoming one of the top comedians in the UK, before giving it all up to move to the US, a dream she’d had since she was six years old, watching American kids on television, riding cool bicycles, and solving crimes. Despite loving stand-up comedy and having heard her name I wasn't familiar with Gina's work, except seeing her on Celebrity Come Dine with Me.

The back of the book describes it as ‘humorous’ and ‘hilarious’, which I found odd considering the first third is an extensive catalog of horrific mental and physical child abuse the author suffered at the hands of various family members. A couple of niggles I had with the book: Gina starts off with an account of the history of Benin (which I am very familiar with and I believe showcases poignantly the deeply racist and colonial attitudes of the British in the 19th century) but which is told in an overly simplified language as if the book is addressed to an audience that can barely read. If you like family stories, or feminist ones where the princess saves herself, or even if you just like to laugh, then you will enjoy this one. Ebooks fulfilled through Glose cannot be printed, downloaded as PDF, or read in other digital readers (like Kindle or Nook).She was always treated as a 'token' Black, and therefore had few hopes of moving up despite being very talented and popular among viewers. Bullying and alienation at school, made worse in Gina's case by racism and even by rivalries between Carribean and African people owing to internalising the white narrative of lazy blacks. Gina would learn to speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man’s job, and travel the world with a free spirit. An eye-opening read about her childhood and the obstacles faced by Yashere, both in her first career as an engineer and then as a comic. She had made her home in London and was determined to make the most of the opportunities available for herself and her three children, Gina and her two boys, Dele and Sheyi.