Everybody's Favorite: Tales from the World's Worst Perfectionist

(Hardback)

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Many have tried, and many will try, to capture the sweet, innocent insanity of life as a young girl during the 90s and 2000s. None have come close to the comedic perfection Lillian Stone nails again and again inEverybodys Favorite. Glamour, Best Nonfiction Books of 2023

From one of the Internets favorite self-deprecating commentators comes Everybodys Favorite, a laugh-out-loud essay collection that tackles the relentless pursuit of perfection while navigating growing up in the early 2000s.

Lillian Stonechildhood evangelical, AOL girlfriend, and professional nail biter is always living on the edge of anxiety. From the pitfalls of a girl plagued by religious trauma, the incomprehensible yet unforgiving need for perfection, and a poorly-behaved twenty-pound beagle, Everybodys Favorite is a refreshing story of what it means to pick yourself when the world is telling you otherwise. Still navigating the ins and outs of adulthood, accompanied by an obsessive-compulsive disorder thats become an exercise in self-acceptance and thus compassion, Lillian has become an expert in fighting the urge to be someone elses idea of perfect. In this laugh-out-loud essay collection, replete with cringe-inducing touchstones of an early-aughts girlhood, Lillian Stone recounts her quest to be everybodys favorite.

Set largely during the early 2000s Ozarks, and peppered with Stones biting satire and gloriously self-deprecating personal anecdotes,Everybodys Favorite is a wry, empathetic look at the chaos that ensues when we contort ourselves into an ever-changing assortment of socially acceptable shapes only to fall out of place, twist an ankle, pee your pants a little, and realize that the pursuit of perfection isnt really all that interesting.

Reviews

"A sharply funny writerfor fans of Jessi Klein or Samantha Irby" Booklist Many have tried, and many will try, to capture the sweet, innocent insanity of life as a young girl during the 90s and 2000s. None have come close to the comedic perfection Lillian Stone nails again and again inEverybodys Favorite. Glamour "...Relatable, moving, and emotionally hilarious." Vulture Stones painfully sharp observations will draw readers in, and her honesty will keep them enthralled. This will go a long way toward helping readers feel less alone. Publishers Weekly (starred review) I love to hear funny people eviscerate themselves powerfully and with cutting humor. Lillian delivers in this nonstop review of her life, inner and, mostly, outer. Funny. Enjoy. Bob Odenkirk If adolescence is a dumpster fire, Lillian Stone is an intrepid dumpster diver, rescuing the bric-a-brac of a bygone, early internet era and holding it up for us to admire. And cringe at. Its the figuring-it-outness of Stones work I most adore. In this finely crafted coming-of-age tale, Stone jubilantly dismantles shame, both of body and spirit. A book to fold in your back pocket and take on the train, to fill with stars and scribbles and squiggly underlines. Judy Blume and John Waters, please step forward to claim your love child. Greg Marshall, author of Leg

Author Bio

Lillian Stone is a humor writer, journalist, and regular contributor to The New Yorker, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Men's Journal, RealSimple, Allure, MEL Magazine, and Reductress. A leader in the online humor and satire space, she was named one of Paste Magazine's 15 Best Humorists Writing Today. She also serves as a staff writer for The Takeout. She lives in Chicago.