A FEW WORDS ABOUT WORDS
BOOKSMART
DIANE HARRIS
BY DIANE HARRIS
In her debut memoir Sarah Cooper immediately transports her readers into an intimate space : her wacky , hilarious , insecure mind .
The book is written in Cooper ’ s comedic voice , but it feels a lot like one might be eavesdropping on a private therapy session . In Foolish : Tales of Assimilation , Determination , and Humiliation , Cooper explores revelations made from her childhood , growing up in “ the mean streets of Rockville , MD ”, to becoming a viral internet sensation for lip-synching videos mocking former President Donald Trump .
The result was a series of hilarious TikTok mockeries and impressions of Donald Trump .
“ The thing I hated most about Trump ( among the actual reasons ) was that he was exactly the kind of president I ’ d be . I would be like , how could he not read his intelligence briefings ? But the thing is I ’ ve never shown up prepared to a meeting in my life . I ’ d get so mad he spent all morning in bed tweeting and watching TV , but I was also in bed all morning tweeting and watching TV …”
While Foolish reveals some of the ups and downs of Cooper ’ s life , it works best as an exploration of her wit – and wisdom .
In the first part of the book , Cooper discusses her formative years , her relationship with her siblings , what it was like attending mostly white schools , and – spoiler alert – how she discovered that she is black .
The book also delves into Cooper ’ s humor laced psyche as she entered adulthood . She shares humorous and embarrassing college experiences , including lessons in roommate etiquette , dating disasters , and experimenting with edibles and alcohol .
Cooper dissects her marriages and two divorces almost as if she ’ s working it out in her own head as we go along .
In the final section of her memoir , Cooper details her observations about the time she spent working in the tech industry at Yahoo ! and Google .
By her own admission , Cooper was not the most highly motivated one in her family . After all , she is the “ Wash belly ”, of which little is expected , she tells readers .
During the pandemic , Cooper was inspired to merge her “ addiction ” to social media with her comedic voice .
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