Hold onto your hats, Broad City fans. Bustle is happy to exclusively reveal that Abbi Jacobson is Book of the Month's guest judge for December, and she's chosen Kathleen Collins' Whatever Happened to Interracial Love as her book club pick. Read all about why Jacobson chose Collins' short-story collection for BOTM below, and find out how you can participate in the book club festivities.
Jacobson is best-known for her work on the Amy Poehler-produced Comedy Central show Broad City, in which she stars alongside co-creator Ilana Glazer. The series is based on Jacobson and Glazer's webseries of the same name. The BOTM guest judge says she recognized the similarities between Collins' stories and her own writing, calling it "so relevant to where we are as a country today." She goes on to say:
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love felt like I dug up a secret time capsule from the 1960s and opened it to find a collection of stories that made me feel. I think that’s what we look for in all content really, stories and pieces of other people’s experiences that make us feel. Sad, sexy, hopeful and honest characters fill Kathleen Collin’s beautiful book. And even though these stories were written decades ago, the issues and frustrations of her characters’ lives mimic where we are right now. Strong, bold, black women fill the pages, reminiscing on an important time in American history, much of which still holds true today.
Here are a few highlights from Abbi Jacobson's Q&A with Book Of The Month, which will be available on their website on Thursday:
1. How Abbi Jacobson Feels about Broad City Fanfiction
"It’s weird, in TV, you’re not really supposed to read any spec scripts of your own show, because if someone happens to come up with a similar joke and they see it on TV, they can sue you… So I tend to specifically NOT read fan fiction of Broad City. I know it’s out there, which is so flattering. It’s amazing to think of all the other storylines our characters might be living in other people’s minds," she tells Book of the Month.
2. What She Thinks Is the Worst Way to Be Broken Up With
"I suppose it would now be a text?" she says. "Even though a post-it is such an absurd and cowardly way to break up with someone. Maybe a Snapchat? I don’t use Snapchat, but I imagine that would just be the worst way to be broken up with."
3. How Her Squad Supports Her while She's On Tour
"It’s been so incredible," she says. "I pinch myself a lot thinking about the amount of brilliant women I’ve met and gotten to know over the past 5 years. I also had Sam Irby and Mike Perry as part of the tour—who were and are fantastic as well. I feel very lucky and inspired by my peers. The book tour was one of the best weeks I’ve had. I still haven’t been able to fully process it."
4. What Abbi and Ilana's Broad City Relationship Has in Common with the Actresses' Real-Life Friendship
"The friendship on the show is based on our friendship in real life. When Ilana and I met in 2007, it was an immediate friendship. We were on the same indie improve practice group and we all went to get a drink at a bar afterwards. I remember we sat at the bar and just talked the night away. I have a lot of amazing friends in my life that happen to be women, but Ilana was the first on in New York that really felt important. I guess we were right."
5. How Important Reading Is to Her Life
"It’s very important. I go through waves of reading more or less. Depending on where we are in production of the show, I’m writing and reading a lot of drafts of scripts, so I tend to not read as much for leisure during those periods. When I’m not in that zone, I have a bunch of books going at a time. If I have an afternoon to go sit in a coffee shop and read, well there’s nothing better than that. What a luxury."
You can join the BOTM club today to check out Whatever Happened to Interracial Love and other great selections. Single-book plans start at just $11.99 per month, with additional titles priced at $9.99 each. Gift plans are also available, in case you need to purchase any last-minute holiday presents.
Abbi Jacobson's debut book, Carry This Book, is available now from your favorite retailer. Look for Broad City Season 4 to premiere sometime in 2017.
Images: Courtesy of Book of the Month
