Well, This Is Exhausting
Essays
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
From Bustle columnist and host of None of My Business Sophia Benoit, this “charming and often laugh-out-loud funny” (Vogue) memoir-in-essays explores the ins and outs of modern womanhood—from finding feminism, the power of pop culture, and how to navigate life’s constant double standards—perfect for fans of Fleabag and eldest daughters everywhere.
Like so many women, Sophia spent her formative years struggling to do the “right” thing—to make others comfortable, to take minimal and calculated risks, to live up to society’s expectations—only to realize that there was so little payoff to this tiresome balancing act. Tired of trying so hard, Sophia finally let go of the crushing pressure to be perfect.
She navigates the highs and lows of the dating world (high: being a beta tester for Bumble; low: hastily shaving her legs before a hotel hookup and getting blood all over the sheets), and walks the line between being a “chill” girl and making sure her boyfriend’s nonchalance about altitude sickness doesn’t get him killed. She learns what it means to be a feminist, how to embrace her own voice, and when to listen to women who have been through more and have been doing the work longer.
With topics ranging from how to be the life of the party (even when you have crippling anxiety), to an ill-fated consultation with a dietician who deemed Sophia’s overindulgence in ketchup a serious health risk, to a masterful argument for why no one should judge you for having an encyclopedic knowledge of reality TV, Well, This Is Exhausting is not only “one of the funniest books you’ll read this year, but it’s also one of the most important” (Shondaland).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
GQ sex columnist Benoit debuts with a riotous collection of essays illuminating her rocky path to self-acceptance. More than anything, she notes, "It's the story of how I learned how to be good for myself rather than for other people." Starting with her 1990s childhood, Benoit writes candidly about her life as an overachieving youth in Kirkwood, Mo.; her years as a worrisome college student; and her eventual transformation to burgeoning young feminist. After her parents divorced when she was young, she and her sister bounced back and forth between their mom and dad's lofty expectations, which always caused "a film of blame." This led to extraordinary anxiety for Benoit, which followed her throughout her adolescence, as she aimed to please everyone but herself. But after trying everything from reinventing herself as a "chill girl" working at a hockey warehouse to being a beta tester in college for the dating app Bumble—which was "full of filthy-hot men"—she discovered Twitter and an army of female comedians railing against lousy dudes and finally realized a man's approval wasn't all it's cracked up to be. "I had reached another plane of existence and that existence was ‘If you fucking speak to me, I'll murder you.' " Heartening and hilarious, this is prime summer reading material.
