Well, This Is Exhausting: Essays
Named a Best Book of the Month by Vogue, Good Morning America, Bustle, Fortune, Goodreads, and more!
From Bustle columnist and Twitter sensation Sophia Benoit, this “charming and often laugh-out-loud funny” (Vogue) memoir-in-essays explores the ins and outs of modern womanhood—from finding feminism, the power of pop culture, and how to navigate life’s constant double standards—perfect for fans of Shrill and PEN15.
Like so many women, Sophia spent her formative years struggling to do the “right” thing—to make others comfortable, to take minimal and calculated risks, to live up to society’s expectations—only to realize that there was so little payoff to this tiresome balancing act. She spends her childhood in Missouri navigating her parents’ divorce and helping care for her younger siblings, always remaining reliable and responsible. She heads off to college having completely missed her change at a carefree youth.
Tired of trying so hard, Sophia finally lets go of the crushing pressure to be perfect. She navigates the highs and lows of the dating world (high: being a beta tester for Bumble; low: hastily shaving her legs before a hotel hookup and getting blood all over the sheets), and walks the line between being a “chill” girl and making sure her boyfriend’s nonchalance about altitude sickness doesn’t get him killed. She learns what it means to be a feminist, how to embrace her own voice, and when to listen to women who have been through more and have been doing the work longer.
With varied and laugh-out-loud funny topics ranging from how to be the life of the party (even when you have crippling anxiety), to an ill-fated consultation with a dietician who deems Sophia’s overindulgence in ketchup a serious health risk, to a masterful argument for why no one should judge you for having an encyclopedic knowledge of reality TV, Well, This is Exhausting explores what it means to care too much and try too hard, while maintaining a sense of humor about the absurdity of it all.
