The intimacy of the inner dialogue throughout each story was very interesting and how it was written gave the feeling that you were really seeing something you weren't supposed to. From a woman who sees an ex-partner on a poster and defaces it, to another inundated by online gossip and gripes, to a guru slash influencer slash con-artist, these are all fractured individuals who are “just about managing” to deal with relentless reality. Josie Long, comedian, who has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe for over two decades, has written her first book of short stories, Because I Don't Know What You Mean and What You Don't. They're funny but I think its the warmth, humanity and natural optimism that runs through these stories and makes them feel like a coherent group rather than a jumble of assorted stories.

The narrators of these stories are mostly women trying to find out things about themselves and their place in the world, within their close relationships especially. I found the stories here daring, funny, refreshingly frank, miraculous and, despite all the misshapen characters, refreshingly uplifting.News of the title – set to be published in hardback in June – comes as Long announces her biggest UK tour so far, with 39 dates across 2023. I hadn’t heard about the author (and stand up comedian) Josie Long before seeing this as an audiobook on BorrowBox, it sounded interesting so thought I’d give it a go.

It's a book I'll read again - if you know Josie Long as a comedian, don't go into this one expecting laughs. This collection manages to retain Long's spirit while also showing another side to her - it's sadder, slower, angrier, and at times more futile than her stand-up persona, which even in its darkest places has always carried the charm of hope and the potential for joy. From a comic mastermind comes this brilliant collection of comical, refreshing and often brilliantly relatable stories. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.But how does she feel instead about the fact that these stories are fixed, unchangeable from now on?