Reviews - I'll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood

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746 reviews for:

I'll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood

meh, I was warned this wasn't fantastic, but I typically like memoirs and stuff about kids so I thought it might be up my alley. It was pretty blah though, I didn't find her lack of knowledge about parenting interesting, her stories weren't that funny, and it just felt like it had zero originality

nssutton's review

4.0

This is exactly the kind of book I yearned to read in early motherhood. I felt really seen as I read Klein’s Starbucks bathroom essay… and the car seat one… and Halloween… and little books. For as much as I loved the content, I found myself doing a million things other than finish it (many of those things motherhood or middle aged related that maybe I should write my own essays about).

hollyanns's review

3.0

I was previously unfamiliar with most of her work, and didn’t know what to expect with these essays on motherhood and midlife (for the record, I’m in my 20s and childless). I got a mixed bag. On one hand, talking about motherhood through the framework of the hero’s journey is brilliant. I was impressed; I thought to myself “yes, I love that!” However the execution…drifted. Klein has an immense amount of privilege most new moms can only dream of (night nurses AND a daytime nanny?!), so to hear her complain about things like buckling her kid in a car seat (after paying an “expert” to install it) can be a little bit frustrating. It’s a lot of whiplash to go from “I could see myself feeling that way” to “how can anyone but her relate to that?”

I’d recommend this to new or soon-to-be moms who want something only semi-realistic about motherhood, and don’t mind it being a bit sardonic.

katykanread's review

3.0

This was a compilation of very well written essays recommended to me by a close friend. While I did enjoy them, toddler motherhood is not my current life stage and I had trouble relating to them. I will say the Halloween one was pretty awesome and I frequently laughed out loud. Very good read overall just not my cup of tea.

bcaine23's review

3.0

3.5-4

i LOVED jessi klein's first collection (s/o to the person who stole my copy... im still waiting for you to give it back) and i was terribly excited to read this new collection. let the record show: i am not a parent. that being said, i struggled with these. the ending of each essay often felt unearned; so much of what i love about observational humor and writing is the nuance and emotion that is given to seemingly innocuous experiences. that felt trite here or like themes were being drawn without first being realized.

the penultimate essay about little books is absolutely terrific.

erh244's review

5.0

Rarely do I write reviews anymore, but this book needed one. Context: my daughter turned one yesterday, I’m a Jew who lives in NYC, I listened to this book, and I’ve loved Jessi Klein since I first heard her on Wait Wait years ago. This book was so relatable and helped me on my parenting journey. Thoughts I had were verbalized and situations I’ve already gone through were written about so poignantly that some made me cry. Loved this book so much, but if you aren’t a parent, it may not be as amazing to you. But you would be wrong.