Reviews with content warning for Sexism - My Mess Is a Bit of a Life

The premise of this book is "short anecdotes evacuating anxiety out of the body, as prescribed by a therapist." From the darkly humorous writer of The Thick of It, Veep, Succession, etc, that's a pretty interesting premise! I was pretty excited for this memoir based on excerpts. Parts of it REALLY delivered, offering tender and humorous anecdotes. Other parts... less so.

Approached as a series of short stories (which is more how it reads), they're thematically connected, but on average pretty unremarkable. Approached as a narrative string of vignettes, it's better -- particularly in the last 1/3 when the author stops recounting childhood & early career struggles, and transitions to talking about mid/late-career issues as a woman in a male-dominated field + the experience of raising non-neurotypical children as a non-neurotypical adult. But viewing the memoir this way requires generally forgetting about the childhood anecdotes. Overall, the book contains mostly punchy dismal bits that don't build to anything, with a few fantastically insightful moments interspersed.

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nicolepaul_ine's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

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