HEATHER HAVRILESKY is the author of How to Be a Person in the World and the memoir Disaster Preparedness. She writes the Ask Polly column for New York magazine, and has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and NPR's All Things Considered, among others. She was Salon's TV critic for seven years. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and a loud assortment of dependents, most of them nondeductible.
Wise, wry essays on the false promise of self-help, the emptiness
of materialism, and the beauty of the 'imperfect moment.'
--People What If This Were Enough? feels cathartic....
Havrilesky's book is hilarious and pulls no punches, and its
cohesiveness feels fresh.
--Broadly "A sharp, humorous, and heartfelt essay collection that
explores our culture's obsession with self-improvement, perfection,
and success, What If This Were Enough? asks readers to
reconsider their endless quest for the coolest, the biggest, the
shiniest new thing, and instead find happiness in what they already
have."
--Bustle
"The popular 'Ask Polly' columnist returns with a witty collection
encouraging readers to embrace their imperfections and reject our
culture's self-improvement obsession."
--Entertainment Weekly "Deftly written...Havrilesky
takes sharp and incisive stand against the never-ending quest for
more and for better that inevitably leads many of us to feel
restless angst."
--Real Simple "Always briskly observant, and often mordantly
funny...brimming with the author's warmly diagnostic and incisive
voice, the pieces crystallize as potent blends of cultural
critique, memoir, and anecdote, which take a scalpel to the inured
surface of modern American life."
--The Millions Insightful, intelligent, and with
trademark honesty, the book (and Havrilesky through it) seems to
want to grant us all permission to feel deserving of, and happy
with, our lots in life.
--Guernica "For the people who don't get to have their midnight
crises answered personally, there is this book...[Havrilesky] has
written a book of essays. But no book of essays has ever been so
hellbent on making you feel better."
--Romper "Think of Heather Havrilesky as your wisest
girlfriend whose advice is never wrong. (Seriously, read her advice
columns!) In this collection of essays, Havrilesky takes on our
never-ending quests for self-improvement and will make you feel a
hell of a lot better no matter your end goal."
--Cosmopolitan "A soothing and much-needed reminder to tap out of
the digital jealousy game and give ourselves and others TLC from
the Cut's sanity-saving 'Ask Polly' columnist."
--Vulture "In 19 wry, insightful and compassionate essays,
Havrilesky peels back the layers of late-capitalism malaise that
bind us to the promise of some better version of ourselves lurking
just beyond our reach, and dares us instead to accept our current,
flawed lives, suffering and all, in order to settle into a less
anxious and resentful present."
--Salon
"The essays in this collection are richly layered, emotionally
evocative and often profoundly funny."
--The Michigan Daily Heather Havrilesky is a singular talent and an
indomitable force. When it comes to the tension between thinking
and feeling, of being out in the world and being alone with
yourself, there is no one sharper, wiser, funnier, most honest, or
more insightful. In What If This Were Enough, readers will find a
splendid mix of Havrilesky's familiar and intimate 'Ask Polly'
voice and the authority and erudition of a seasoned cultural
critic. I couldn't get enough.
--Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects
Of Disucssion There's an effortlessness to Heather Havrilesky's
writing that is incredibly rare. Her funniest sentences are still
empathetic. Her darkest confessions are still pretty funny. It
doesn't seem to matter what she's writing about, or what point
she's trying to make. She's just good at it.
--Chuck Klosterman, author of But What If We're Wrong? and
Killing Yourself to Live
Heather is that dear friend you run into at a bad party at which
you're stuck and you say 'Oh thank God you're here' and spend the
rest of the night making dark and hilarious jokes about the party,
other attendees, and the human condition. Thank God she's here.
--Jake Tapper, author of The Hellfire Club and The Outpost
"[Havrilesky] wants Americans to 'wake up to the unbelievable gift
of being alive, ' even though it means facing... the scary emotions
that are easier avoided. It's a message she relates with insight,
wit, and terrific prose."
--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Provide[s] a crucial analytical perspective on human
interactions...A fun, often insightful read."
--Kirkus Reviews "[I]n this quick-witted collection of essays,
advice columnist Havrilesky pointedly asks whether it is possible
to be satisfied without having everything our world of excess
offers us...[T]here is always a sharp edge to her
observations...[S]he presents some more personal stories about love
and loss that tantalizingly offer a glimpse into a more grounded
way of life, leavening the dark atmosphere with humor and
hope."
--Booklist "Thoughtful, direct, and often funny, these essays
are a lovely blend of personal reflection and cultural
critique."
--BookRiot
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