Unreliable Narrator by Aparna Nancherla

A hilarious and insightful collection of essays exploring impostor syndrome, from the inside and out, by the most successful fraud in comedy

Aparna Nancherla is a superstar comedian on the rise—a darling of Netflix and Comedy Central’s comedy special lineups, a headliner at comedy shows and music festivals, a frequenter of late night television and the subject of numerous profiles. She’s also a successful actor who has written a barrage of thoughtful essays published by the likes of the New York Times. If you ask her, though, she’s a total fraud. She’d hate to admit it, but no one does impostor syndrome quite like Aparna Nancherla.

UNRELIABLE NARRATOR is a collection of essays that uses Aparna’s signature humor to illuminate an interior life, one constantly bossed around by her depression (whom she calls Brenda), laced with anxiety like a horror movie full of jump-scares, and plagued by an unrepenting love-hate relationship with her career as a painfully shy standup comedian. But luckily, crippling self-doubt comes with the gift of keen self-examination. These essays deliver hilarious and incredibly insightful meditations on body image, productivity culture, the ultra-meme-ability of mental health language, and who, exactly, gets to make art “about nothing.” Despite her own arguments to the contrary, UNRELIABLE NARRATOR is undeniable proof that Aparna is a force—as a comedian and author alike—to be reckoned with.

Aparna Nancherla is a comedian, actress, and writer based in Los Angeles. Her standup has appeared on Two Dope Queens on HBO, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Conan, and she’s had half-hour specials on both Comedy Central and Netflix. She starred as Grace the HR rep on the critically acclaimed Corporate, was the voice of Hollyhock on Bojack Horseman, and has held roles in many other shows. Aparna also wrote for and was featured on Late Night with Seth Meyers on NBC, Totally Biased on FX, and Debate Wars on Seeso, as well as contributing to Broad City and Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters. She has also contributed multiple op-eds to The New York Times.

Author Residence: Pasadena, CA

Author Hometown: Washington, D.C.