Book Review: You'll Grow Out of It

01.9.2017

Happy New Year! January is such a melancholy month, isn't it? The festivities and gatherings have ended, everyone is back to work and school, and there are weeks of dark, cold days¹ ahead of us. So, to get my mind off my SO's departure I listened to Jessi Klein's You'll Grow Out of It. I had seen this book splashed across the Powell's 'New + Recommended' lists, in the hands and Instagram accounts of celebrities, and even had it on personal recommendation from a friend. And it could not have come at a better time. Jessi's book is all about coming of age, but instead of focusing on adolescence she focuses on her twenties and thirties. From terrible boyfriends, to better boyfriends, to a fiancee, and finally to her pregnancy and child rearing, Klein's book was a laugh and a comfort when I needed it most. As comfortable as my situation is now, thinking about the future terrifies me. How am I going to have kids and a career? Do I even want kids? Do I even want a career? Do I want this career? What if things don't work out with my current SO? What if I can't get pregnant? Or worse, what if I ever get pregnant? Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god. I know I'm not alone, that my millennial peers are worrying the same worries and fearing the same futures. But it's still so profoundly comforting to hear the journey of someone you admire. That the best laid plans often go astray, and that not planning can work itself out. That you will be OK because Jessi was OK and she doesn't have this any more figured out than you do. I highly highly highly recommend this book. It will be a friend to you, no matter where you are or where you see your life going. It will get you through those dark January days.

1 The bright side (ha) is that, because I get into the office before sunrise and leave after sunset, I don't need to wear sunscreen. Score.