by Jen Kirkman
First published 2016
Stand-up comedian and bestselling author Jen Kirkman tackles the chaos of being forty and still figuring things out. She explores marriage, divorce, and unconventional choices like maintaining friends with benefits or skipping family holidays. Kirkman discusses renting instead of buying property, dating multiple people rather than settling down, and traveling to Paris solo while others express pity. She covers finding gray pubic hair, making unpopular life decisions, and dealing with mental health struggles. Throughout her candid observations, Kirkman argues that reaching middle age without having everything sorted is perfectly normal. Her memoir reassures readers that life remains permanently messy and that staying authentic matters more than meeting others' expectations. The book celebrates embracing uncertainty and rejecting pressure to conform to traditional milestones.
Genres: essays, gender-studies, feminism, autobiography, contemporary, adult, biography-memoir, comedy
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: embracing-uncertainty, rejecting-expectations, staying-authentic
Period: 21st-Century
240 pages · Kindle Edition · Simon Schuster
Content warnings: mental-illness