Leigh Kramer's Reviews > The Last Black Unicorn

DNF at 41%

When I was looking for an audiobook for a long drive, I remembered how Haddish has always been a great storyteller when I’ve seen her on talk shows. I enjoyed learning more about her family and upbringing, harrowing as it was. However, she seemed distant from the source material, perhaps because she tried to frame some of it as a joke when the stories were traumatic and especially when she was in the wrong. It doesn’t seem like she has often been aware of just how horribly she’s been treated or what normal behavior looks like in relationships.

Still, it was enjoyable enough until I got to some intense ableism. She used the R-word during an argument with her cheating boyfriend. The incident took place in 2001 or 2002 and people definitely knew better by then to use that ableist slur. I’m flabbergasted that it was published in 2017 without any acknowledgment that it’s a terrible word. Does she still not know not to say that?!

I’m guessing not since there’s a chapter titled “Roscoe the Handicapped Angel.” Let that sink in. (In case you don’t know, disabled should be used instead of handicapped.) Roscoe is a disabled baggage handler she used to work with. The way she describes and talks about him is upsettingly ableist. In fact, I’d say it's violently ableist. She also made the choice to imitate his voice in the audiobook; he possibly had a stroke or some other disability that caused slurred speech. That was a bad choice on her part. I got about halfway through the chapter and decided not to listen any further. I am shocked and disappointed. I can only hope Roscoe has no idea he appeared in this book or what Haddish really thought of him. I also hope she has since learned that the way she talked about him is not okay.

Update: I learned that Tucker Max was her ghostwriter and that honestly explains so much. It still never should have gotten past the editor though.


*I did not take content notes since I listened while driving but here’s an incomplete list of what I remember: child abuse (sexual, physical, mental, emotional), image-based sexual abuse (shared cheating ex’s porn video with his family), mom in near-fatal car accident (stepfather later claimed he cut the brake lines because he wanted to collect on the life insurance; the kids were supposed to be in the car with her that day), mentally ill mother (schizophrenia), institutionalized parent, ableism (not countered), ableist slur, sex work, infidelity (ex cheated), abortion, illiteracy, ableist language