Reviews for You'll Grow Out Of It

by Jessi Klein

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Klein's hilarious collection of autobiographical essays about the everyday trials of being female will appeal to readers who loved Tina Fey's Bossypants and Amy Poehler's Yes Please. Klein, best known as the head writer of television's Inside Amy Schumer, tackles such topics as working in comedy, dating, marriage, and infertility and pregnancy with a feminist perspective. Throughout, she writes in a conversational tone that imitates how a close friend might share embarrassing details. Many women will relate to and find solace in Klein's experiences. This title will be best enjoyed in the audio format, thanks to the author's excellent narration, which deepens the humor. VERDICT Certain to be popular with comedy and memoir fans. Highly recommended for all libraries. ["A complete pleasure to read; it's hard not to keep turning the pages, impossible not to laugh out loud": LJ 6/1/16 review of the Grand Central hc.]-Julie Judkins, Univ. of North Texas, Denton © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Klein, a comedian and head writer of Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer, in her debut essay collection centers on her awkward coming of age, which she cheekily admits extends well into her 30s. As a self-identified "late bloomer" and "tom man" (a tomboy who "never grows out of it"), Klein reflects on her bumpy path to womanhood in order to comment on American gender roles and gender role expectations during this time of third-wave feminism, that is, during a time when there aren't supposed to be gender expectations. The tension leaves many women, as she sharply observes, not feeling like women at all. As Klein was born and raised in Manhattan during the 1970s and 1980s, she has lived through this transition and contradictory messaging toward women. While some readers may feel alienated by the author's white, middle-class perspective, her humor often strikes on the universal. VERDICT A complete pleasure to read; it's hard to not keep turning the page, impossible to not laugh out loud. [See Prepub Alert, 11/30/15.]-Meagan Lacy, Guttman Community Coll., CUNY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* Comedian, comedy writer, and television producer Klein admits up front that she's a tomman, a grown-up version of a tomboy. Later, she says she's a humble feminist. Perhaps the two are identical. Perhaps not. But no matter, for what she really is is exceedingly clever, as she proves in this collection of semiautobiographical essays that follow, all of which are, if not laugh-out-loud funny, at least what the old Liberty magazine used to call chucklesome. Her subjects shopping for underwear (excuse me lingerie), dating a cad, getting engaged (not to the cad), shopping for a wedding dress, etc. are vaguely quotidian but offered with a slightly off-kilter sensibility that engages and holds our interest, even when we don't recognize some of the many allusions that are a substantial part of the author's humor (What are Dansko clogs? Who is Charlotte Gainsbourg? Happily, another more universally accessible part of her humor is the droll simile: seeing a suddenly unrecognizable friend walking down the aisle is like seeing your beloved Chihuahua in a neon Speedo; every Anthropologie store feels like the manger in which Zooey Deschanel was born. If her subjects are sometimes ordinary, her take is not, for there is never a doubt that, at heart, she's a comedian (she writes about becoming one in the book's best essay), and reading her book is like watching her doubtless superb stand-up act. Enjoy.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2016 Booklist


Publishers Weekly
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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. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Klein draws nicely on her own brand of stand-up comedy in bringing this collection of her autobiographical essays to life. Her delivery style seems akin to a confessional between an honest and approachable woman to a close friend over drinks or coffee, as opposed to a larger-than-life stage monologue. She utilizes a deadpan tone to convey the ironies and complexities of female identity across ages, whether it's teen obsessions with bra size and hair imperfections, or the self-esteem roller-coaster ride of single life and dating, or the struggles of balancing pregnancy and motherhood as a successful television writer and producer. Klein's anecdote about having to make special arrangements for her breast pump while walking down the Emmy red carpet captures the book's essence with particular clarity, as the comic tension builds with angst that connects on an intimate level to her audience. Klein's approach allows her to take on edgy topics of self-awareness and self-empowerment without coming across as heavy-handed. A Grand Central hardcover. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.