Stefanie Wilder-Taylor Owes Me Money

Before I review her new book, I need to explain that I think Stefanie Wilder-Taylor is a big jerk who owes me money. Let me explain.

The book is called It's Not Me, It's You. The reason it's called that is because Wilder-Taylor had a contest on her blog to name the book. 100 bones to the winner. She said the book was a bunch of essays about her being crazy and seeing therapists and all that, so I suggested... Loco, Essays.

Get it?

Well Wilder-Taylor got it but some fucking suit at the book company didn't, so she couldn't use it. But what the hell? 100 bucks for me, right? I won! But I still haven't seen a dime and that's why I think she's a big jerk.

But I promise to not let my negative opinions about the author influence my book review. I am, however, going to refer to her book as Loco, Essays, the book's real name that was never paid for.

Loco, Essays is a book that breaks from Wilder-Taylor's previous comic takes on motherhood: Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay and Naptime Is The New Happy Hour. She probably could've kept right on busting out funny books about parenting but she didn't, which is admirable. This time, she wrote a book about her life and her life, just like her new book, is a hilarious trip off the beaten path. It's surprisingly just like your life, but only with cults and crack and a strange guy masturbating in your bed.

The book is made up of 18 chapters, each one telling their own story, but they don't cohere into one big grand story, which I thought was pretty cool. Is your life held together by a traditional plotline where conflict brings everything to a riveting climax that is then resolved? Mine isn't either. We all walk around with a pocketful of stories like so many stones and Loco, Essays is merely Wilder-Taylor opening her hand to say "Hey. Check out these stones."  

That's not to say that the chapters are disparate fragments with no relation to one another. They're all about Wilder-Taylor, of course, and they all serve in their own way to reveal that Wilder-Taylor is pretty much a crazy nutjob. In a good way. I'm not just saying that because she owes me money. But there's all kinds of losing jobs, strained relations, bulimia, strippers, running away, marriage, and lots and lots of therapy.

But beneath all the crazy there's the tenacious revelation that maybe our culture's self-centered focus on the self and its problems might just be the problem itself. In some of her most poignant essays, Wilder-Taylor, as she struggles to fix herself and matter to the people she thinks she needs (her roommate, her father, her therapist!), discovers that the source of her conflict is not so much a problem at her own core, but in the twisted way that people need her. It's like a light bulb goes off and she says "Hey. It's NOT me. It's you!"

Shit. I suppose that is a pretty good title then. Dammit. That 100 was mine.

But, life changing epiphanies aside, I'd be doing It's Not Me, It's You a disservice if I failed to mention that it's hilarious from cover to cover. Wilder-Taylor is truly at her best when she's making you smile. Whether she's refusing to smash a big stuffed bee in therapy to get her anger out or scoring a telemarketing job that's actually a front for topless Vegas modeling, she has a knack for both winding up in good stories and telling them.

Just like running away at 16, It's Not Me, It's You is a brave launch in a new direction for Wilder-Taylor. And I'm glad she wrote it down.

Comments

[sarasophia]

Well, NOW I have to go read it.
Who could resist the topless modeling and cults?

Thanks for letting me know the correct title. I wouldn't have wanted to ask for the wrong book or anything<3

<3 sarasophia

[Stefanie]

Shit, BHJ, I had no idea I was so deep. But, yeah! As usual, you totally get me. And I LOVED the title Loco Essays. I think reviews should be your next big career move.
xxoo

Stef

[LiteralDan]

I shall be touring my local book chains with a magic marker, crossing out this misprinted title and replacing it with "Loco, Essays".

If anyone starts hassling me, I will send them your way. I trust you and Jackson know what to do with them.

[ms picket to you]

half way done and i loves it.

[Dad Gone Mad]

SWT kicks so much ass, it's not even funny. Turn to page 63, where she talks about breaking her "therapy cherry."

[Maria M]

word

[Andrea]

I can't wait to read it. I've loved her writing so far and look forward to this new direction!

[ilinap]

You hit it. I got this book for a friend who is in love with Stefanie and totally read it on the plane on the way home from Blogher. It's a good thing my seat was next to the bathroom because I was about to pee in my pants the whole time.