Olivia Munn’s debut book reads a lot like a conversation with a geeky friend. The actress and Attack Of The Show host tells funny, engaging stories, but much of Suck It, Wonder Woman!: The Misadventures Of A Hollywood Geek consists of poorly fleshed-out comedy, or just mundane anecdotes interspersed with Yoda lines and phrases like “om nom nom nom!!!”
The 269-page book is divided into 34 tiny chapters. Never focusing on one thing for long, the text jumps around in ways that make promising subjects feel underdone, as when the “Star Wars Can Totally Help You In Life” chapter turns out to just be a story about how Munn liked to imagine killing her co-workers Darth Vader-style when working an awful job.
Other sections seem entirely geared toward titillating fans. Munn writes that she wants to be sexy in her way, without feeling like she’s simply being a sex object. And that way includes sharing provocative photos of her dressed as Betsy Ross, Catherine The Great, and Princess Leia as part of “A Gallery Of Great Women.” Or telling stories about her first lesbian encounters on- and off-camera. For the last one, she offers to “pause here while you run to the computer, search for the video and possibly rub one out.” Her stories of seeing a director nonchalantly masturbate in front of her, being asked to bear Evander Holyfield’s child, and having an aging producer offer her an antique dildo are shocking and funny, though many of her other bits about crazy Hollywood fall short.
Title aside, Suck It, Wonder Woman! is at its best when it’s sincere and intimate. The chapter called “My Worst Day Ever” is a beautiful story about adolescence and regret. Munn devotes several chapters to detailing her travails as a geeky kid and army brat, constantly trying and usually failing to fit in at a string of new schools. It’s a simple, relatable story about finding solace outside the popular kids’ domain through videogames and Dungeons & Dragons.
Munn’s book isn’t likely to win her more devotees, but it’s sure to appeal to her fan base. The section she devotes to a gallery of fan art could seem narcissistic, but really, it just feels like she’s showing genuine love to the followers who have embraced her geekiness.