I Miss You When I Blink: Essays
Written by Mary Laura Philpott
Narrated by Mary Laura Philpott
4/5
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About this audiobook
One of Esquire’s Best Nonfiction Books of the Year
One of NPR’s Favorite Books of the Year
One of the Year’s Most Anticipated Books: BuzzFeed, Bustle, HelloGiggles, Literary Hub, She Reads
“I've spent my adult life prowling bookshelves for the modern-day reincarnation of my favorite authors—Nora Ephron, Erma Bombeck, Jean Kerr, and Laurie Colwin—all rolled into one...Good news: I have finally found their successor.” —Elisabeth Egan, The Washington Post
Acclaimed essayist and bookseller Mary Laura Philpott presents a charmingly relatable and wise memoir-in-essays about what happened after she checked off all the boxes on her 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 she 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?
In this memoir-in-essays full of spot-on observations about home, work, and creative life, Philpott takes on the conflicting pressures of modern adulthood with wit and heart. She offers up her own stories to show that identity crises don’t happen just once or only at midlife; reassures us that small, recurring personal re-inventions are both normal and necessary; and advises that if you’re going to faint, you should get low to the ground first. Most of all, Philpott shows that when you stop feeling satisfied with your life, you don’t have to burn it all down and set off on a transcontinental hike (unless you want to, of course). 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?
Like a pep talk from a sister, I Miss You When I Blink is the funny, poignant, and deeply affecting book you’ll want to share with all your friends, as you learn what Philpott has figured out along the way: that multiple things can be true of us at once—and that sometimes doing things wrong is the way to do life right.
Editor's Note
Editor’s pick…
Part memoir, part personal growth mentor, Mary Laura Philpott’s book is a reassuring pat on the shoulder for anyone having an identity crisis or feeling trapped in the pursuit of perfection. A humorous search for happiness.
Mary Laura Philpott
Mary Laura Philpott, nationally bestselling author of I Miss You When I Blink and Bomb Shelter, writes essays and memoirs that examine the overlap of the absurd and the profound in everyday life. Her writing has been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, among many other publications. A former bookseller, she also hosted an interview program on Nashville Public Television for several years. Mary Laura lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her family.
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Reviews for I Miss You When I Blink
252 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I enjoyed most of the book, but at some point, it didn't feel as good as the beginning. The last part was kind of rushed, and we didn't get to know how she managed the consequences of the decisions she made. Anyway, it was good overall.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved it - very relatable. Would recommend to perfectionists.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I enjoyed many of these essays - I did skip over a lot in the middle where it gets super graphic about the yucky parts of pregnancy/childbirth. But the beginning and end parts are wonderful listens.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mary Laura Philpott weighs in on a variety of subjects in her engaging and entertaining collection of essays, "I Miss You When I Blink." The title is a sentence that Philpott's six-year-old son said to himself one day. She realized he had inadvertently captured an attitude that she had about herself, and his words became her mantra, like "certain phrases handy in our minds—hanging on hooks just inside the door."
The author, who is married with two children, is a cartoonist and freelance writer who, she reveals, has sometimes felt like an underachiever whom the world had passed by. She describes herself as a type A personality who is "addicted to getting things right," and declares, "I hate that I can't relax." Whatever happened to that ambitious college student who looked forward to fulfilling herself professionally? The answer is that she was there all along, waiting to be acknowledged. Mary Laura's comments reflect her self-deprecating honesty, humor, and insight into human nature. We can identify with this down-to-earth and witty individual who chats with ease on such topics as parenthood, perfectionism, volunteerism, and even the perfect murder weapon. Her appealing prose style ranges from breezy to biting, and she lucidly and succinctly puts her finger on issues that women often think about but do not always choose to air in public.
Philpott is embarrassed to admit that she became depressed at a time when she had much to celebrate: a nurturing family, nice home, and good physical health. Unfortunately, she was "staggering under the weight of a dull, constant dread" in spite of having "the luck and support that should have made [her] feel safe and happy and secure." She wisely sought the help of a therapist and eventually found her voice. This book makes us laugh out loud and also reminds us that it not necessary to excel at everything one undertakes. The cliché holds true: the things that we take for granted are often the most significant of all. If only we were all blessed with the wisdom, presence of mind, and perspective to see not just the trees, but the forest as well. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lovelovelove. Its like a good talk from a friend! So glad i could find it!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved this book! Her voice is perfect for narrating and her essays were from different times in her life which made it very interesting.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This one was a little tough for me. I didn’t really love this book, nor did I hate it. It’s odd for me to say but I felt I enjoyed the middle of this book the most. Some sections seemed to drag but the sections/chapters where the author let her humor and wit shine through were entertaining.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was absolutely amazing and 100% relatable! I loved it!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Loved the book itself - made me laugh out loud multiple times. Hated the change in narrater several hours in just to change back in the last hour or so of the book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really loved this collection! They were the perfect length, as well as so smart and funny and charming. I think everyone can find something to relate to here. [ARC provided by Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.]
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sometimes a book comes along at the right time in your life and says exactly what you didn’t know you needed to hear. I loved it.