Samantha Irby on oversharing and the art of confessional writing

Samantha Irby is not shy about her shortcomings. In one essay, she details the side effects of an ill-advised diet program: “When I wasn’t burning calories from breaking a continuous stream of putrid wind, I was sweating on the toilet as three ounces of food karate-chopped their way through my intestinal tract.” She’s currently on a book tour promoting the recently re-released “Meaty.” When she was in Los Angeles, The Times caught up with Irby — who is as laugh-out-loud funny in real life as she is in her writing — to talk about it. I was like, “I can't believe I wrote this.” The first thing I thought was, “Why didn't we let this die? Is there anything you've written about where in retrospect you're like, thinking, “I wish people didn't know that about me?” All of the “I pooped my pants,” that kind of stuff, I never regret it. But really, I never regret it because part of why I keep doing this is because I get feedback from people that's like, “that thing you wrote really helped me.” If my talking about getting my heart hit by a bus is helpful, then I’m cool with it.