Ambition Monster: A Memoir

(Hardback)

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Entertaining and highly relatable. The New York Times

As hilarious as it is heart-wrenching[A] gift of storytelling, and an act of reclamation. Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author

A deeply personal memoir about workaholism, the addictive nature of ambition, and the humbling process of picking yourself up when the world lets you downan anti-girlboss tale for our times for readers of Drinking: A Love Story and Uncanny Valley.

After years of relentlessly racing up the professional ladder, Jennifer Romolini reached the kind of success many crave: a high-profile, C-suite dream job, a book well-received enough that reporters wanted to know the secrets to her success, and a gig traveling around the country giving speeches on making it. She had a handsome and clever husband, a precocious child. But beneath this polished surface was a powder keg of unresolved trauma and chronic overwork. It was all about to blow.

Written with self-deprecation and wit, Ambition Monster is a gutsy and powerful look at workaholism and the addictive nature of achievement, the lingering effect of childhood trauma, and the failures of our modern rat race. This is a Cinderella story of success and a brutal appraisal of the cost of capitalismperfect for people pleasers, overachievers, and those whose traumas have driven them to strike for goodness, no matter the cost. With its timely and resonant deconstructing of the American Dream, Ambition Monster is a singular excavation of selfhood, an essential interrogation about the way we work, and an inspiring and affirming call to always bet on yourself.

Reviews

Laudablean entertaining and highly relatable account of the struggle to avenge the people we once were. The New York Times
Addictive. Slate
Fast-moving and dishyAmbition Monstertells a tale of an overachiever who wore out her wheels pursuing success and who finally looked up from her Outlook calendar and called it a night. The Guardian
[An]intimate, intensely resonantmemoir about workaholism, unresolved trauma, and the addictive nature ofambition. Harpers Bazaar, Best Books of 2024
Extremely compelling, packed with insight, humor, and radical candor... A superb reality check for anyone trying to climb the corporate ladder. Booklist
AmbitionMonsteris perfect for people pleasers, overachievers and anyone whose trauma has driven them to push for success no matter the cost. Pure Wow
Ambition Monsterisashilarious as it is heart-wrenching. Through bad boyfriends, complicated coworkers, and just enough luck, Jennifer Romolini uses sharp sentences and vulnerabilityto tell the story of a life spent in hot pursuit of the love, validation, and the significancewe all desire. Page after page, chapter after chapter, I found myself riding with Romolini down the rabbit hole of her successes, and often enough, right into the glaring light of her failures.Ambition Monsteris a gift of storytelling, and an act of reclamation.Ashley C. Ford,New York Timesbestselling author ofSomebodys Daughter
Jennifer Romolini is a big-hearted, hilarious genius who has generously ripped her life open to let us pick at her scars, and we are luckier for it. Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Quietly Hostile, Wow, No Thank You, and We Are Never Meeting In Real Life
Ambition Monstergrabbed me in its teeth and wouldn't let me go.Jennifer Romolini'smemoir ispropulsive and funny and human and wise all at once.It's rare to find a book that says suchhard truths about work, money, and, yes, ambition. I devoured it, or maybe it devoured me. Claire Dederer, bestselling author ofMonsters: A Fans Dilemma
An exquisitely written reckoning with our own career hunger:where it comes from, but also what it costs us.Ambition Monsteris weird and funny and brutally honest in all of the best ways. If you find yourself on the other end of burnout, trying desperately to figure out a new way forward wow, is this book for you.Anne Helen Petersen, author ofCan't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

Author Bio

Jennifer Romoliniis the author ofWeird in a World Thats Not, Ambition Monster, and is the host of the podcastEverything Is Fine. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Fast Company, Vogue, and many others.