About the Book
"Brodie is whip smart; merging pop-culture references with vulnerable, personal experiences to create a collection that reads like a hilarious catch-up call with an old friend. What a pleasure to hear from this fresh, extremely relevant point of view." Abbi Jacobson, CO-CREATOR / WRITER / STAR of BROAD CITY
"I wish Brodie was the voice of my inner monologue; narrating me through life with her fierce intelligence and never-ending pop culture references. Instead, I'll just settle for this extremely relatable, unashamedly funny, powerful and beautifully vulnerable book No Way! Okay, Fine." - Courtney Barnett, ARIA award winning and Grammy nominated songwriter and musician.
'I identified early on that my role in relationships was the sidekick, the platonic female cast member in an all-male production, or the friend who was relied on selectively when other options were unavailable. I was the comic relief or the stand-in, never the lead. I knew this, I felt it, I wrote it down, but I didn't dare say it aloud because that would prove that I cared and caring wasn't cool.'
From the small town in regional Australia where she was told that 'girls can't play the drums' to New York City and back again, Brodie has spent her life searching screens, books, music and magazines for bodies like hers, girls who loved each other, and women who didn't follow the silent instructions to shrink or hide that they've received since literal birth. This is the story of life as a young woman through the lenses of feminism and pop culture.
Brodie's story will make you re-evaluate the power of pop culture in our lives - and maybe you will laugh and cry along the way.
'Brodie Lancaster is a thoughtful and patient writer, and this book is a generous, deep dive into her psyche. Brodie's thoughts about her body, her friends and lovers, her choices and fears are all presented with the same staccato blast of pop culture touchstones, and if you love boy bands/the internet/reality television/the Gilmore Girls/literally every other thing that is good in the world, you will adore this book.' - Emma Straub, bestselling author of THE VACATIONERS and MODERN LOVERS.
About the Author :
Brodie Lancaster is a writer, editor and occasional DJ based in Melbourne, Australia. Her writing has appeared in Rookie, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Jezebel, Vulture, Hello Mr, The Walkley Magazine, Kill Your Darlings, Noisey and The Pitchfork Review. She has spoken at Melbourne Writers Festival, Emerging Writers' Festival, National Young Writers' Festival, Signal Express, Jacky Winter, and RMIT and Melbourne universities. No Way! Okay, Fine. was shortlisted for The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers 2015 and is her first book.
Review :
Razor-sharp, captivating and instructive, No Way! Okay, Fine will appeal to feminist readers and lovers of pop culture. - Books+Publishing
A coming-of-age story with a fierce, feminist heart and a broad sense of purpose, Brodie Lancaster's debut memoir No Way! Okay Fine is narrated through a series of chronological yet distinct standalone chapters. Complex themes, from body acceptance and internalised misogyny to performative grief and disavowal of religion, are rendered in a strikingly honest and accessible way. Lancaster's conversational writing style and pop-culture analogies give the memoir a humorous undercurrent and cultural reference points that are at once relatable and profound. At its heart, this memoir is an unapologetic homage to fangirls and the 'largely scorned act of fanning'. In a world where female desire is often overlooked or dismissed, the act of a woman adoring something unabashedly and without restraint is a political statement in itself. By relating her experiences and feminist awakening through the prism of pop culture, Lancaster elevates the very thing that women are often derided for loving and uses it to deconstruct and understand the world around her. Razor-sharp, captivating and instructive, No Way! Okay, Fine will appeal to feminist readers and lovers of pop culture. - Bookseller + Publisher
No Way! OK, Fine is really intelligent, insightful writing that challenges the notion that pop culture is somehow inferior to other art forms. - Herald Sun
The extended musings on the unfair critical dismissal of pop music, on the double standards faced by women actors in mainstream cinema, and on the genius of rapper Kanye West, are entertaining - Weekend Australian
Intensely relatable and packed with pop culture references, No Way! Okay, Fine left me feeling validated, angry, inspired, and unstoppable. But most importantly it made me feel a little less alone and, to make a pop culture reference of my own, I'd kill for a time travelling DeLorean so I could go back about ten years and shove this book into the hands of a teenage me. - The AU Review
