“This short and sharp piece of non-fiction once again shows Michaela Coel as the magnificent thinker she is … Misfits is profound, hilarious, devastating and breathtakingly beautiful all at once.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
Misfits: A Personal Manifesto is the Sunday Times Bestseller written by the creator of Chewing Gum and I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel. Misfits is a published expansion of her 2018 MacTaggart Lecture which touched so many people, uniting what Coel calls ‘misfits’ with her striking revelations and thoughts on race, class, and gender, particularly within the TV industry.
Misfits is a published version of the speech (much like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists was published in book form). As well as printing the actual speech Coel delivered, this book offers an expansion of further thoughts from the writer including; an introduction that delves into how Coel wrote the speech and how she felt at the time, plus an Epilogue: The Aftermoth which explores the speech’s reception, and what the experience did for Michaela Coel herself.
At just over 100 pages, Michaela Coel’s Misfits is a quick and easy read that packs in a lot of important observations. Immersing the reader in her vision for a more transparent, inclusive, and radically honest future, Coel shares personal tales, anecdotes, and a powerful moth-based allegory. In telling her story, Coel invites us as readers, other misfits, to reflect on our own life journey, embrace our differences and transform our lives.
A truly rousing and powerful manifesto, Michaela Coel’s Misfits is dedicated to anyone who feels they don’t fit into this house or this world.
Reviewed by:
Catherine Muxworthy, Booksbirdblog
Added 15th December 2021
