I'll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood

Written by Jessi Klein

Narrated by Jessi Klein

An instant New York Times bestseller, I'll Show Myself Out is the eagerly anticipated second essay collection from Jessi Klein, author of the acclaimed debut You’ll Grow Out of It.

Longlisted for the PEN Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

“Sometimes I think about how much bad news there is to tell my kid, the endlessly long, looping CVS receipt scroll of truly terrible things that have happened, and I want to get under the bed and never come out. How do we tell them about all this? Can we just play Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire and then brace for questions? The first of which should be, how is this a song that played on the radio?”

In New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Jessi Klein’s second collection, she hilariously explodes the cultural myths and impossible expectations around motherhood and explore the humiliations, poignancies, and possibilities of midlife. 

In interconnected essays like “Listening to Beyoncé in the Parking Lot of Party City,” “Your Husband Will Remarry Five Minutes After You Die,” “Eulogy for My Feet,” and “An Open Love Letter to Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent,” Klein explores this stage of life in all its cruel ironies, joyous moments, and bittersweetness.

Written with Klein’s signature candor and humanity, I'll Show Myself Out is an incisive, moving, and often uproarious collection.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Apr 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9780062981622

Jessi Klein

Jessi Klein is the author of You’ll Grow Out of It and the Emmy and Peabody award-winning head writer and an executive producer of Comedy Central's critically acclaimed series Inside Amy Schumer. She is an actor and consulting producer on the hit Netflix show Big Mouth, and has also written for Netflix’s Dead to Me and Amazon's Transparent as well as Saturday Night Live. Klein has been featured on the popular storytelling series The Moth, and has been a regular panelist on NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Her work has been published in the New York Times, the New Yorker, GQ, and Cosmopolitan, and she has her own half-hour Comedy Central stand-up special. She lives in Los Angeles with her family. 

Reviews for I'll Show Myself Out

[Oksana Boyko · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best books on motherhood I have read so far. So raw, honest and funny, it was like talking to or listening to a good friend of mine. I haven’t enjoyed listening or reading a book that much in a long time, already want to listen to it again! Highly recommended!!

[Brenda Witmer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an honest, funny, brilliant set of essays about mothering, being a woman in this culture, and Life. I love hearing the actual author's voice reading the text. Highly recommended.

[Nora Specioso · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Especially if you’re a new mom, READ THIS! I don’t want to spoil anything but here’s some reassurance that we’re not the only ones…

[Diana Reese Puckett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved hearing the author narrate this book. It was so good and relevant and thought-provoking. Especially for women in their 40s/50s and moms. Lots of laugh out loud moments and few moments that tugged at my heart. Enjoyed this one very much

[Patricia Pazmino · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Listening to this audiobook felt like applying a balm to my mind. Should be required listening for every mother. Thank you Jessi Klein for sharing this boon with me.

[Ghadeer Waili · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh my god!!
This book is a must for any mom who is struggling to understand herself and to be understood.
The way she put our struggles in a light-weight comical way is brilliant and will make you think things you probably didnt pay attention to before
I loved every chapter