10/15/2018
In this often hilarious collection of personal essays, Jacobson, who stars in Comedy Central’s Broad City, provides witty, self-deprecating recollections of her life as she drives cross-country from New York City to Los Angeles. Alongside her travels, Jacobson recounts events in her life: as she begins her trip in New York City, she recalls her first relationship and subsequent breakup with a woman; relaxing in Santa Fe, she contemplates her path to success, from an improv member of the Upright Citizens Brigade to creator of Broad City. Jacobson toggles between thoughtful reflection (“Why does the sight of the person you’re in love with, wearing your clothes, feel so deeply good?” she wonders while driving to Memphis) and lighthearted asides (“At what point are ankles considered cankles? Is there a chart to reference?”). Those familiar with Jacobson will appreciate the details that link her real life to her character on the screen, including her affinity for Bed Bath & Beyond coupons and her frequent FaceTime calls with friend and costar Ilana Glazer. However, readers less familiar with her TV work may feel that the narrative rambles. Fans will delight in the peek into Jacobson’s creative process and be touched by the strikingly raw emotions she shares throughout. (Oct.)
2018-10-12
The actor, producer, and series creator turns in a series of sketches, some brilliant and some pedestrian, chronicling episodes in her life to date.
With her friend Ilana Glazer—"a bacon egg and cheese with Ilana, anywhere, anytime," she writes in an essay on bagels, this one decidedly nonkosher—Jacobson (Carry This Book, 2016, etc.) crafted the hilarious, edgy Comedy Central series Broad City. As she notes in passing, it morphed into something more than just a TV show: "It's become a visual diagram of sorts in which I track my own life, where I've been and where I'm going…a reproduction of my reality." Many of the pieces are set in far-flung places between the twin poles of Los Angeles and New York—in Santa Fe, say, which Jacobson worries isn't really real, and Marfa, Texas, which is "so cute." A common theme throughout the book is ceiling-studying insomnia as the author restlessly travels from town to town; another is wrestling to the point of fretfulness with mundane and big-picture worries alike: "Maybe I'm more Jewish than I think?" As she drives from Santa Fe to Kanab, Utah, she ponders such things as how often she ought to be changing her shoelaces, death and dying, aging, love, missing out on key events, and "if scrunchies are back and why." Some of Jacobson's observations are too casually tossed-off—"Starbucks might be more known for their bathrooms than their coffee"; "Do you think Ross-and-Rachel situations are happening all over the place?"—but many of the sketches are reminiscent of Nora Ephron in their sharp-edged goofiness, as when she concludes a piece on failed love with this: "I did what any intelligent, responsible, sane person would do. I got a dog."
Charting the charms and obstacles in the everyday, Jacobson's book wobbles here and there, but it's mostly a pleasure to read.
"Poignant, funny, and beautifully unabashed, I Might Regret This takes readers on both a cross-the-country adventure and a deep dive into Abbi Jacobson's gigantic heart."—Cheryl Strayed
"As a passionate fan of Abbi Jacobson's comedy, it was no surprise to me that this book is hilarious, peculiar, and very smart. But I was unprepared for the courage she shows in making herself vulnerable on these pages: Jacobson cracks herself open and explores love and loneliness, travel and independence, success and self-loathing. I wish I hadn't finished reading this...I miss her already."—Ariel Levy, New York Times bestselling author of The Rules Do Not Apply
"Intimate and brave in a way her audience has yet to experience, I Might Regret This is a funny, vulnerable, generous, and excruciatingly honest look at the beautiful heart that beats inside Abbi Jacobson."—Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life and Meaty
"Anyone who has had their heart broken will recognize the emotional contours of Abbi Jacobson's post-breakup cross-country road trip...A sweetly wistful collection which includes her hand-drawn illustrations."—Washington Post
"Jacobson was seeking to establish a 'small, meaningful connection with a stranger,' and that's exactly what she did. And that is exactly what she's done here, with each one of her readers."—The New York Times Book Review
"A truly exceptional memoir...Jacobson is tuned into the ways that physical objects, details, smells and tastes shape the bigger things in our lives. Our loves, our insecurities, our heartbreaks, our griefs: She understands that these things are intricately constructed, that their incongruities and moments of humor lend them texture and weight. The ability to understand that sadness and joy and ridiculousness are necessarily intertwined: This is what has always made Jacobson's comedy so tenderly funny. Like "Broad City," I Might Regret This is in a league of its own."—Michigan Daily
"While asking many questions about adulthood—like what the impact of tucking in her shirt has had on her life—Abbi Jacobson infuses her sharp and witty voice to tell stories about loss, love and finding yourself."—TIME.com
"Part travelogue, part diary, you come for the delightful observations about road snacks and the life-changing magic of tucking in your shirt, and stay for the endearingly honest, quirky reflections on life, love, art, and work."—Queerty
05/15/2018
From the cocreator/costar of the Comedy Central series Broad City, nominated for ECNY's best web series award, here comes a passel of funny, touching essays rooted in Jacobson's solo cross-country drive. With a 250,000-copy first printing.
