Would Everybody Please Stop?: Reflections on Life and Other Bad Ideas

Finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor

"One of the funniest writers in America."

That’s what The New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz calls Jenny Allen—and with good reason. In her debut essay collection, the longtime humorist and performer declares no subject too sacred, no boundary impassable.

With her eagle eye for the absurd and hilarious, Allen reports from the potholes midway through life’s journey. One moment she’s flirting shamelessly—and unsuccessfully—with a younger man at a weddin...