I Miss You When I Blink

Essays

Mary Laura Philpott

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Year: 2019
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781982102821
• Subtopic: Mental Health & Wellbeing
• Index: Social Sciences

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A charmingly relatable and wise memoir-in-essays by acclaimed writer and bookseller Mary Laura Philpott, " the modern day reincarnation of … Nora Ephron, Erma Bombeck, Jean Kerr, and Laurie Colwin — all rolled into one " ( The Washington Post ), about what happened after she checked off all the boxes on a successful life ' s to-do list and realized she might need to reinvent the list— and herself. Mary Laura Philpott thought she'd cracked the code: Always be right, and you'll always be happy.But once she'd completed her life's to-do list (job, spouse, house, babies—check!), she found that instead of feeling content and successful, she felt anxious. Lost. Stuck in a daily grind of overflowing calendars, grueling small talk, and sprawling traffic. She'd done everything "right" but still felt all wrong. What's the worse failure, she wondered: smiling and staying the course, or blowing it all up and running away? And are those the only options?Taking on the conflicting pressures of modern adulthood, Philpott provides a "frank and funny look at what happens when, in the midst of a tidy life, there occur impossible-to-ignore tugs toward creativity, meaning, and the possibility of something more" ( Southern Living ). She offers up her own stories to show that identity crises don't happen just once or only at midlife and reassures us that small, recurring personal re-inventions are both normal and necessary. Most of all, in this "warm embrace of a life lived imperfectly" (Esquire), Philpott shows that when you stop feeling satisfied with your life, you don't have to burn it all down. You can call upon your many selves to figure out who you are, who you're not, and where you belong. Who among us isn't trying to do that?"Be forewarned that you'll laugh out loud and cry, probably in the same essay. Philpott has a wonderful way of finding humor, even in darker moments. This is a book you'll want to buy for yourself and every other woman you know" ( Real Simple ).

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Chapter 1: I Miss You When I Blink
• Chapter 2: Everything to Be Happy About
• Chapter 3: The Perfect Murder Weapon
• Chapter 4: Wonder Woman
• Chapter 5: Lobsterman
• Chapter 6: Mermaids and Destiny
• Chapter 7: Disappearing Act
• Chapter 8: P-O-I-S-O-N
• Chapter 9: Good Job
• Chapter 10: This Guy
• Chapter 11: Welcome to the Club
• Chapter 12: The Window
• Chapter 13: Me Real
• Chapter 14: The Expat Concept
• Chapter 15: The Pros and Cons of Joining the Ruby Committee
• Chapter 16: Sports Radio
• Chapter 17: Rock You Like a Hurricane
• Chapter 18: No Safe Place
• Chapter 19: A Letter to the Type A Person in Distress
• Chapter 20: Stuck in Traffic
• Chapter 21: Diane von Furstenberg’s Apartment
• Chapter 22: Nora Ephron and the Lives of Trees
• Chapter 23: This Is Not My Cat
• Chapter 24: Ungrateful Bitch
• Chapter 25: Sloths on a Waterbed
• Chapter 26: And Then the Dog Died
• Chapter 27: Wish List
• Chapter 28: The Unaccountable Weight of Accountability
• Chapter 29: Blind-Spot Detection
• Chapter 30: The Joy of Quitting
• Chapter 31: I’m Sorry, Mindy Kaling
• Chapter 32: Try It Again, More Like You
• Acknowledgments
• Reading Group Guide
• ‘Bomb Shelter’ Teaser
• About the Author
• Previously Published
• Copyright