You'll Grow Out of It

Starred review from May 9, 2016
Comedian Klein, head writer of Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, hilariously navigates the world of 21st-century adulthood, adding levity to the difficult stage of life for millennial women in the thick of it. From mundane topics (lingerie) to more significant ones (childbirth), Klein’s refreshing anecdotes explore the facets of being a modern woman with raw honesty and indelible wit. She proffers sound advice on love lost, fashion, sexism, and careers, mining her own experiences with oddball introspection. Readers journey along with Klein as she shares stories, such as attending her sister’s conservative Jewish wedding ceremony at Disney World, as well as the everyday elements of life, such as an exploration of her recent, somewhat guilt-ridden relationship with internet porn. Never afraid to share insights and reveal the raw truth behind her own stories, Klein makes readers laugh while inspiring them, a feat that calls to mind the work of the late Nora Ephron. This uplifting and uproarious collection of personal essays will be repeatedly shared among friends.

This sardonically read meditation on life as a woman in contemporary America is the latest in a summer flowering of books by female comics. Jessi Klein gives voice to the tumult of being a late bloomer who grows up to become a smart woman in Hollywood. Her reflections on the double standards for women's beauty and the pains of growing older under a microscope are told to the listener in a casually confiding way. Profanity and self-deprecation are sprinkled liberally throughout the pithy chapters. Klein bares all in an honest, level tone, revealing the heartache of breakups and infertility treatments. The result is a hip feminist anthem told in the sarcastic tone of an older sibling. M.R. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine