This Might Be Too Personal: And Other Intimate Stories

With candid humor and self-deprecating charm, columnist Shelasky (Apron Anxiety; New York magazine’s “Sex Diaries”) tells all in a collection of essays chronicling her love life from its spectacular early failures to its ultimate successes. The first half of the book follows her through one botched relationship after another, as she runs away from friends’ weddings, her own wedding, even her very first book launch. She also details a sexual assault, which took place before #MeToo became a movement. Facing some hard truths, Shelasky finally stops running away from a life she dreads, and instead starts running towards the life she wants. After realizing she doesn’t need a man in order to achieve her desire to be a mother, her life really starts to get interesting. When Shelasky is in charge of the narrative, it can never be too personal—and readers might even learn something, too.