NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Root
Chosen by Emma Straub as a Best New Celebrity Memoir
“A book of essays as raw and honest as anyone has ever produced.” — Lena Dunham, Lenny Letter
In the spirit of Amy Poehler’s Yes Please, Lena Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl, and Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist, a … Letter
In the spirit of Amy Poehler’s Yes Please, Lena Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl, and Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist, a powerful collection of essays about gender, sexuality, race, beauty, Hollywood, and what it means to be a modern woman.
One month before the release of the highly anticipated film The Birth of a Nation, actress Gabrielle Union shook the world with a vulnerable and impassioned editorial in which she urged our society to have compassion for victims of sexual violence. In the wake of rape allegations made against director and actor Nate Parker, Union—a forty-four-year-old actress who launched her career with roles in iconic ’90s movies—instantly became the insightful, outspoken actress that Hollywood has been desperately awaiting. With honesty and heartbreaking wisdom, she revealed her own trauma as a victim of sexual assault: “It is for you that I am speaking. This is real. We are real.”
In this moving collection of thought provoking essays infused with her unique wisdom and deep humor, Union uses that same fearlessness to tell astonishingly personal and true stories about power, color, gender, feminism, and fame. Union tackles a range of experiences, including bullying, beauty standards, and competition between women in Hollywood, growing up in white California suburbia and then spending summers with her black relatives in Nebraska, coping with crushes, puberty, and the divorce of her parents. Genuine and perceptive, Union bravely lays herself bare, uncovering a complex and courageous life of self-doubt and self-discovery with incredible poise and brutal honesty. Throughout, she compels us to be ethical and empathetic, and reminds us of the importance of confidence, self-awareness, and the power of sharing truth, laughter, and support.
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This is a fabulous audiobook. I like memoirs read by the author, and this one is powerful–funny, angry, emotional, sometimes searingly honest. An illuminating collection of personal stories and essays.
Very frank insight into Gabrielle Union’s life growing up, her trials and successes, her career and her marriage to basketball player Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat. She even speaks about the challenges of being a step mother to Wade’s 3 sons and his nephew, who are all a part of their immediate blended family! Be prepared for a wild ride with this autobiography.
I was impressed with Gabrielle’s honesty about her family life growing up, experiences as a teenager finding her way through uncomfortable circumstances, and how she managed to find the balance between two different worlds. She is brutally honest about her feelings and experiences which makes me applaud her willingness to open up to the world…especially when some of those emotional experiences were the direct result of being ‘watched’ by the world.
4.5 stars
Fascinating look at the challenges of navigating between various segments of society and struggling to conform to the mores of different ethnic groups. I love the honesty and insight as the author describes the lengths that she went through to “fit in” with diametrically opposed segments of society and cheer that she found the strength to be “her” rather than the expectations of who she was or how she should act. I was also struck by the universality of some of the challenges she faced growing up, whether it was related to maturing from a young female, owning her sexuality, or dealing with the horrific aftermath of being sexually assaulted.
I enjoyed the easygoing style and the feeling that she was confiding in a friend and I am still amused at her praise of her publicist who keeps G’s propensity to cuss at a dull roar so that the general public doesn’t realize, lol. This book has great reminders that more folks should mind their own business and stop passing judgment on others when they don’t know all of the facts. I was appalled at the insensitivity of folks and hope that more of us learn empathy and the value of learning to see past our preconceived notions.
I love this woman and her book.
A hilarious and moving memoir from a natural storyteller. Gabrielle Union explores love, family, trauma and racial identity in a book that somehow manages to be both heartbreakingly honest and laugh-out-loud funny.
/ 5
Raw, honest and at times heartbreaking, We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union made for such a wonderful listen!
I seem to be on a theme of listening to nonfiction books with authors that I don’t know very much about and this was no different. I knew Gabrielle Union from Bring It On, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Love & Basketball but that is about it, and I didn’t know anything about her personal life. In We’re Going to Need More Wine she talks a lot about when she was growing up in Pleasanton, California, her love life, and life in general, and also a little about her career. I was actually surprised at how little she talked about her film career, but that was ok with me. She did touch on being an African American in Hollywood though which was very eye-opening.
Union also talks about her advocacy work and how she was raped while working at a Payless which I had no idea happened, and it was horrific and heartbreaking to listen to her talk about. This book made me laugh while being full of substance and emotion. I think it is a little all over the place and not all that linear in timeline but that wasn’t really a problem for me, and I loved that it felt like she was talking right to me like an old friend.
Song/s the book brought to mind: I Believe by Yolanda Adams
Final Thought: If I didn’t love Gabrielle Union before then I sure love her now. We’re Going to Need More Wine is inspiring, educational, and incredibly heartfelt. I highly recommend listening to the audio as I thought she did an amazing job reading her book. And why wouldn’t she?! This collection of essays might have had a little too much about her vagina and tampons, but overall I was a huge fan!
She kept it real in this book so real it had to be honest. It was more real than I expected. I didn’t like the cussing but I can take it that she was real honest. Young and old adults could learn some lessons especially about taking care of yourself first.
We’re Going to Need More Wine is honest, raw, and funny. Union’s vulnerability about her flaws and mistakes, and also pride in her triumphs, will not only make you feel as though you’re seeing yourself reflected, but will also inspire you to be your most authentic self.
[Gabrielle Union’s] written a book of essays as raw and honest as anyone has ever produced. In this fantastic book, she discusses everything from sexual assault to the complexity of money in relationships to infertility (plus all the extra gossip you crave). Gab has not only excused the demons of her two-decade career, but she’s turned the exercise into primal scream therapy for her fans. As witty, warm, and assured on the page as she is in person, this book lives somewhere between Nora Ephron and Eve Babitz, with a touch of Audre Lorde’s radical awareness.
I have gotten the pleasure to know Gabrielle over the years and besides the fact that she loves to drink, I’ve always taken comfort in how much we have in common. The predilection to go from talking about the latest humiliating sexual position to a debate on politics or racism, that’s exactly what this book felt like to me, an honest conversation with Gabrielle about her life. I appreciate her integrity, love her humor and openness about her life. I also love the fact that she’s older than me… Go, girl.
Hey World!! It’s time for the monthly book review. Today, I wanted to let you in on an absolute gem. Gabrielle Union’s book, We’re Going to Need More Wine, is a must read. It allows you to see the normalcy of people in the public eye.
We’re Going to Need More Wine is a great combination of humor, community, racial acknowledgment, empowerment and self-reflection. Gabrielle sends you on a journey through her life. She allows you in on her childhood that was a combination of societal changes and indifferences. Growing up in a world where you are either the quota black girl or the not black enough girl. She depicts the upper middle class as well as the streets of the hood and the challenges that arise in both environments. She moves on to adulthood where she discusses marriage, divorce, acting, parenting and even the sensitive topics of infertility and miscarriages. And through it all she brings humor woven within her stories, as well as, little bombs of truth, such as racial profiling and demeaning of others to make yourself feel empowered.
I want this book…
We’re Going to Need More Wine can come in both audiobook and hardcopy. Prices range from $12-30 depending on the format and where you purchase your book. Audiobooks can be purchased at Audible.com, iTunes, as well as, Google Play Books. I really enjoyed that Gabrielle does the voice for her audiobook. Hardcopies of We’re Going to Need More Wine can be found at Target, Walmart, Barnes & Nobles, Amazon and many more. I am an avid audiobook listener. It fits my very busy and on-the-go lifestyle.
Final Thoughts…
I would definitely give We’re Going to Need More Wine a read. Gabrielle gives you the hard truths of our society with a healthy dose of humor.
Until next time…
xoxo
Tashaundra Willis
aka MissShaunSays
I always liked her and his allowed me to get to know more about her. She was very open and honest.
Excellence
Amazing
Felt like I was out with my girlfriend listening to her childhood stories. Brought me closer to one of my favorite actors and online personalities. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to her next book.
What an absolutely wonderful way to spend my work day. You want a great read from someone who tells it like it is? This is it. Gabrielle Union doesn’t play around. She speaks from the heart, with intention and truth. There is so much more here than just another celebrity memoir and I definitely recommend snagging this one.
P.S. The audio is amazing but then it’s read by her so I wouldn’t expect anything but that.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting a glimpse into the life of Gabrielle Union. I was able to connect with her on so many levels in this book. It was witty, funny, yet real and authentic. I also listened to the audiobook so that I could hear the words from her vantage point and it was even better! A definitely must read!