How to Be a Person in the World
Ask Polly's Guide Through the Paradoxes of Modern Life
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3.9 • 20 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
New York Times Bestseller • From the "best advice columnist of her generation” (Esquire) comes a hilarious, frank, and witty collection of all-new responses, plus a few greatest hits from the beloved "Ask Polly" column in New York magazine’s The Cut.
Should you quit your day job to follow your dreams? How do you rein in an overbearing mother? Will you ever stop dating wishy-washy, noncommittal guys? Should you put off having a baby for your career?
Heather Havrilesky is here to guide you through the “what if’s” and “I don’t knows” of modern life with the signature wisdom and tough love her readers have come to expect. Whether she’s responding to cheaters or loners, lovers or haters, the anxious or the down-and-out, Havrilesky writes with equal parts grace, humor, and compassion to remind you that even in your darkest moments you’re not alone.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This collection of previously unpublished pieces by the writer of New York magazine's "Ask Polly" column is irresistible and uproariously honest. Whether she’s pondering the challenges of sobriety, the curse of perfectionism, or the fear of selling out, Heather Havrilesky is a wise and thoroughly modern advice-giver. Thanks to her raunchy sense of humor and unerring ability to dispense sage and surprising advice, How to Be a Person in the World is chock full of hard and hilarious truths.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Havrilesky (Disaster Preparedness), the writer of New York magazine's popular "Ask Polly" column, provides a wealth of new material on work, love, friendship, and fulfillment, all written in her straight-shooting signature style. She admonishes a writer worried about her eccentricities for her "reductive dichotomies" when comparing herself to others, but also acknowledges that "people are allergic to confessional, outspoken women." Providing some much-needed real talk to a writer mired in depression, Havrilesky begins, "Reading your letter feels like playing a board game that you can only lose... Draw a Not a Chance in Hell' card: Advance to Lonely Life Abroad.' " She can be devastating, putting a potential bridezilla in her place ("Your dream will not come true") and verbally eviscerating a man who feels entitled to extramarital affairs ("You've been watching too much Mad Men"). She is similarly direct with a woman consistently involved with married men: "You don't have compassion for other women." True to its title, this collection touches on nearly every facet of living, and Havrilesky's wit, intelligence, and candor set her apart as perhaps the best advice columnist currently in circulation.
Customer Reviews
i’m young and confused
this was a fantastic book with great in-depth advice about real things. and things that are hard to talk about. a joy to read and she’s such an exciting writer. im young and confused and this book has so much more than i’d hope for in guiding through the difficulties of life.
How to be a Person in the World
Fun and "laugh out loud" read with great advice for more than the situations given to "Polly." Thank you HH for publishing this and letting us know your talents (since some of us may have missed your writing in the column).