NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A charmingly relatable and wise memoir-in-essays by acclaimed writer
and bookseller Mary Laura Philpott, "the modern day reincarnation
of...Nora Ephron, Erma Bombeck, Jean Kerr, and Laurie Colwin--all rolled
into one" (The Washington Post), about what happened after she
checked off all the boxes on a successful life's to-do list and realized
she might need to reinvent the list--and herself.
Mary Laura Philpott thought she'd cracked the code: Always be right, and
you'll always be happy.
But once she'd completed her life's to-do list (job, spouse, house,
babies--check!), she found that instead of feeling content and
successful, she felt anxious. Lost. Stuck in a daily grind of
overflowing calendars, grueling small talk, and sprawling traffic. She'd
done everything "right" but still felt all wrong. What's the worse
failure, she wondered: smiling and staying the course, or blowing it all
up and running away? And are those the only options?
Taking on the conflicting pressures of modern adulthood, Philpott
provides a "frank and funny look at what happens when, in the midst of a
tidy life, there occur impossible-to-ignore tugs toward creativity,
meaning, and the possibility of something more" (Southern Living). She
offers up her own stories to show that identity crises don't happen just
once or only at midlife and reassures us that small, recurring personal
re-inventions are both normal and necessary. Most of all, in this "warm
embrace of a life lived imperfectly" (Esquire), Philpott shows that
when you stop feeling satisfied with your life, you don't have to burn
it all down. You can call upon your many selves to figure out who you
are, who you're not, and where you belong. Who among us isn't trying to
do that?
"Be forewarned that you'll laugh out loud and cry, probably in the same
essay. Philpott has a wonderful way of finding humor, even in darker
moments. This is a book you'll want to buy for yourself and every other
woman you know" (Real Simple).
