Brutally honest, often hilarious, hard-won lessons in learning to love and care for yourself from a former vice president at Comedy Central who was called “ahead of her time” by Jordan Peele“You’re going to want Tara Schuster to become your new best friend.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed“Compelling, persuasive, and useful no matter where you are in your … no matter where you are in your life.”—Chelsea Handler, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Life Will Be the Death of Me
By the time she was in her late twenties, Tara Schuster was a rising TV executive who had worked for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and helped launch Key & Peele to viral superstardom. By all appearances, she had mastered being a grown-up. But beneath that veneer of success, she was a chronically anxious, self-medicating mess. No one knew that her road to adulthood had been paved with depression, anxiety, and shame, owing in large part to her minimally parented upbringing. She realized she’d hit rock bottom when she drunk-dialed her therapist pleading for help.
Buy Yourself the Fcking Lilies is the story of Tara’s path to re-parenting herself and becoming a “ninja of self-love.” Through simple, daily rituals, Tara transformed her mind, body, and relationships, and shows how to
• fake gratitude until you actually feel gratitude
• excavate your emotional wounds and heal them with kindness
• identify your self-limiting beliefs, kick them to the curb, and start living a life you choose
• silence your inner frenemy and shield yourself from self-criticism
• carve out time each morning to start your day empowered, inspired, and ready to rule
• create a life you truly, totally fcking LOVE
This is the book Tara wished someone had given her and it is the book many of us desperately need: a candid, hysterical, addictively readable, practical guide to growing up (no matter where you are in life) and learning to love yourself in a non-throw-up-in-your-mouth-it’s-so-cheesy way.
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This isn’t just a memoir; it’s too helpful for that. But it’s not a self-help guide either; it doesn’t promise to cure your ills and it won’t make you roll your eyes. It’s a bracingly honest, funny read that will make you feel you’re not alone in the world. Tara Schuster’s debut is like Wild meets You Are a Badass, and her reflections offer hope for Millennials that if your parents didn’t quite ace their roles, it’s not too late to re-parent yourself.
I have to wonder what my life would have been like if I’d had a friend (or imaginary friend) like Tara Schuster when I was in my twenties. Her candor and sincerity are unimpeachable. The lessons she’s extrapolated from her unsentimental education are compelling, persuasive, and useful no matter where you are in your life. Good work, Tara!
This is the book so many of us need right now: a fierce-but-tender guide to conquering our self-doubt so that we can breathe, be kind to ourselves, and enjoy the one life we’re given. You’re going to want Tara Schuster to become your new best friend.
Meant for the younger crowds, Tara shares her failures and what she has learned Readers would do well to take heed and maybe learn and take advice. Even an old lady like me picked up a few tips.
Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies is so riveting and smart and funny that the first time I picked it up, I spent hours reading it and nodding along and crying big salty tears over how sad it feels to hate yourself, and how good it feels to start crawling toward joy in spite of everything. Schuster not only offers amazingly concrete, useful advice, but she shares vivid stories that somehow make you feel less alone in the world. I strongly, wholeheartedly recommend this book.
Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies is a game-changer. Full of sage and hilarious real talk, this poignant primer is a fresh way to discover who you are and cultivate who you want to be. Buy this book and then buy the f*cking lilies — unless you have cats because the lilies will kill them. Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe, and thrive.
Should I ever be lucky enough to bump into Tara Schusteragain on a hike up Temescal Canyon, I will bow to her and throw roses at her feet, for her lovely observation of our meeting. This is the book I wish I’d had to guide me through my twenties.
Author Tara Schuster shares what works for her in this mix of memoir/self-help book on self-love and self-care.
What struck me from the beginning and throughout the book is Schuster’s use of abbreviations that not all (i.e. non-millennials) may be familiar with. If you’re writing a book because you feel you have something useful and important to say, the least you can do is write it using full words. OMG! Ur JK RT? No. SRSLY? SRSLY! TBH, IRL words are written out!
Also, some readers may take offense at the abundance of foul language.
I do not doubt that this is way the author normally communicates, which, I suppose, adds to the authenticity of the book. However, I found them to be questionable choices overall.
Despite the above comments, I found the author to have good ideas presented in a “that makes sense” way. I applaud her directness and honesty in allowing readers to view the troublesome parts of her life, and her willingness to share what works for her. There may not be anything new here, but she presents points that deserve revisiting time and again.
Three star review from me.
My thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.