By the acclaimed critic, memoirist, and advice columnist behind
the popular "Ask Polly," an impassioned collection tackling
our obsession with self-improvement and urging readers to embrace the
imperfections of the everyday
Heather Havrilesky's writing has been called "whip-smart and
profanely funny" (Entertainment Weekly) and "required
reading for all humans" (Celeste Ng). In her work for New York,
The Baffler, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic, as well
as in "Ask Polly," her advice column for The Cut, she
dispenses a singular, cutting wisdom--an ability to inspire, provoke,
and put a name to our most insidious cultural delusions.
What If This Were
Enough? is a mantra and a clarion call. In its chapters--many of
them original to the book, others expanded from their initial
publication--Havrilesky takes on those cultural forces that shape us.
We've convinced ourselves, she says, that salvation can be delivered
only in the form of new products, new technologies, new lifestyles.
From the allure of materialism to our misunderstandings of romance
and success, Havrilesky deconstructs some of the most poisonous and
misleading messages we ingest today, all the while suggesting new
ways to navigate our increasingly bewildering world.
Through her incisive
and witty inquiries, Havrilesky urges us to reject the pursuit of a
shiny, shallow future that will never come. These timely,
provocative, and often hilarious essays suggest an embrace of the
flawed, a connection with what already is, who we already are, what
we already have. She asks us to consider: What if this were enough?
Our salvation, Havrilesky says, can be found right here, right now,
in this imperfect moment.