"Beautifully written, wildly funny, and whip smart, the essays in Some of My Best Friends are among the best I've ever read. Tajja Isen is unafraid to ask deep questions and embrace their messy answers. She's one hell of a writer."
--Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things and With Teeth
"Sure-footed and illuminating, Some of My Best Friends brilliantly lays bare the lies that accompany some of the most insidious aspects of racism-- lip service, pandering, and plausible deniability--and offers a bracing inoculation."
--Jess Zimmerman, author of Women and Other Monsters
"Isen understands that our shared future demands we expose and call out wasted time, hollow gestures, and empty words. Some of My Best Friends is an inspiring, determined work of personal narrative and cultural criticism."
--Saeed Jones, author of How We Fight for Our Lives
"The essays in this book dazzle stylistically, thrill intellectually and flip the finger to the many ways North America pretends to talk about racial experiences. Isen is a provocateur of the first order. Her wit and wisdom capture the current moment and soar above it."
--Kamal Al-Solaylee, author of Return and Brown
"[A] stellar debut collection...Some of My Best Friends shows a bracing willingness to tackle sensitive issues that others often sweep under a rug."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Isen scrutinizes society's attempts to bandage over such issues as race and gender inequality in her powerful debut. Isen's voice is both wry and sensitive as she fearlessly lays out the limits of talk in solving inequality; fans of sharp cultural criticism, take note."
--Publishers Weekly
"Funny, poignant and super-smart in all the ways." --Ms. Magazine
"Tajja Isen [is] a multihyphenate talent...with a delicious knack for wordplay and language... Isen's original perspective and clever language that will win over readers." --BookPage "Brilliant .... [Isen] examines racism through multiple lenses with the dexterity of a compound microscope."--Anomaly
"Relevant...covers loaded topics in a light-hearted way." --USA Today