If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry: How Death, Debt, and Comedy Led to a Life of Faith, Farming, and Forgetting What I Came into This Room For

by Molly Stillman, Kristin Hannah Narrated by Molly Stillman, Lisa Larsen

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

From the host of the podcast Can I Laugh on Your Shoulder, this hilarious memoir of grief, loss, faith and hope is emotionally resonant and refreshingly personal.

Read by the author.

Some people have life all figured out. This book is for the rest of us.

Molly Stillman has lived the type of life that when shared, people stop in their tracks and ask “Wait, what happened?” Molly's mother, Lynda Van Devanter Buckley, served as an Army nurse during the Vietnam War and wrote the bestselling memoir Home Before Morning. When Molly was seventeen, Lynda passed away after an eight-year battle with an autoimmune disorder due to her exposure to Agent Orange. Four years later Molly turned twenty-one and unexpectedly inherited a quarter of a million dollars from her mother's estranged family's estate. Through “retail therapy” and a long series of grossly irresponsible financial decisions, Molly found herself broke with over $36,000 in credit card debt less than two years later. Shame, guilt, and embarrassment set in.

With aspirations of a career in comedy, Molly used humor to mask the pain and brokenness she felt, believing that if she looked joyful and put together on the outside, it would eventually be true on the inside. Instead, she spent the next few years depressed, lonely, and feeling alienated from those closest to her. But an unlikely call with a compassionate credit counselor, meeting the spreadsheet-loving man who eventually became her husband, and a surprising visit to a church started her on a path that changed everything.

If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry offers humor and hope to all of us who have struggled to reconcile the life we are living with the life we thought we wanted to have. Molly will bring you into the tension of feeling both joy and grief and show you that every broken, messed up story has a purpose, and it's possible to gain everything if you're willing to surrender it all to Jesus.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

01/29/2024

In this high-spirited debut memoir, Still Being Molly blogger Stillman traces her rocky path from grief to faith and the trials she faced on the way. As a child, Stillman loved to make people laugh and dreamed of Saturday Night Live fame. Life began to unravel after her mother’s 2002 death from a possible autoimmune disease, however, and when the 21-year-old author received a quarter-million-dollar inheritance from an estranged grandmother in 2006, she quickly began burning through it (“When I missed my mom, I spent money. When my boyfriend and I argued, I spent money”). She moved to New York City after college graduation to pursue a comedy career, and here describes dizzying days spent at comedy shows, “meeting random guys at bars,” and generally “chasing after worldly idols like fame, fortune, men, and status” before facing up to her credit card debt of more than $36,000, a “rock bottom” moment that led her to a deep faith. While the two sometimes mesh awkwardly, Stillman’s spiritual insights are affecting and her candid humor entertains, as when she recalls “being talked off the edge by a customer service representative” helping her survey her debt (“I can only assume our call was being recorded for quality assurance purpose. Whoever reviewed was in for a real doozy”). Readers will be won over by Stillman’s no-holds-barred account of finding God and herself. (Mar.)

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR KRISTIN HANNAH

'Molly Stillman's vibrant funny voice shines through in her memoir, If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry. Her story is ultimately uplifting and inspirational, with a happy ending that is both hard won and ferociously fought for. Her message is clear and strong: through faith and family and Jesus, all things are possible.'

AUTHOR OF RISE OF THE TRUTH TELLER AND LOVE IS THE ASHLEY ABERCROMBIE

'Being human is hard, and what we suffer on this side of heaven is often unbearable and unbelievable. Molly adds levity to our shared human experiences and offers comforting and practical insight. You'll want to get a copy of this book for everyone you know and love.'

AUTHOR OF I’LL SEE YOU TOMORROW HEATHER THOMPSON DAY

'If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry is for the girl who has been told that she's 'too much' or the seeker who isn't sure that she will ever be 'Christian enough' for God to love. You have always been worthy. And Molly Stillman wants to make sure you know it.'

PASTOR OF HOUSTON NORTHWEST CHURCH STEVE BEZNER

'I wept my way through the final chapter of Molly's book and laughed at its ending. Her story is a story for each ofus: one of soul-jarring tragedy, bone-headed mistakes, aimless wandering—and the grace of a God whose relentless love meets us in the midst of it all. I hope you will read it and find that same grace and love waiting for you.'

AUTHOR OF I TAKE MY COFFEE BLACK AND CREATOR OF TH TYLER MERRITT

'Thank goodness this class clown made it out of the classroom and into our literary world! In IfIDon'tLaugh,I'llCry Molly does a fantastic job of not only inviting us into her life but making sure to welcome us with vulnerability and grace. By the time you reach the end, you just might find that you're exactly what you've been looking for.'

LIZ BOHANNON

'Molly's journey and her retelling of it is full of both heartbreak and hope. It will inspire you to see your own life through a lens of redemption and possibility, while simultaneously reminding you to lighten up a bit and not be afraid to laugh at yourself every once in a while.'

COREY PAUL

'If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry showcases Molly's humor and authenticity as she tells her amazing story of tears and triumph. Her story of how God's grace gave her a life of freedom and love is one that everyone can relate to and will draw hope from. I can't wait for the world to read it!'

FOUNDER OF NOONDAY COLLECTION AND AUTHOR OF IMPERF JESSICA HONEGGER

'Molly's unique ability to blend humor with heartfelt storytelling makes this memoir a delightful and inspiring read for anyone looking to find hope and purpose amid life's challenges.'

BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF DIRT AND SLOW GROWTH EQUALS MARY MARANTZ

'For all of us who have lived hard parts of our story, both by the things that have happened to us and the things we brought on ourselves, this is the anthem we've been waiting for—a permission slip to laugh again, to live again, and to finally forgive ourselves for taking the long way around.'

AUTHOR OF CHASING WISDOM AND THE POWER OF PLACE DANIEL GROTHE

'Molly has written with such vulnerability and tenderness that anyone who reads this book will be assured that they are not alone. If you begin reading the book in tears, you will finish it with laughter and a glimmer of joy. This book is a true gift!'

AUTHOR OF THE COST OF CONTROL SHARON HODDE MILLER

'Living up to its title, If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry is equal parts comedy, tragedy, coming of age, and coming to faith, all brilliantly bound up in to one. If you are looking for real hope and resilience to guide you through life's hardest trials, this book is also for you.'

FOUNDER AND CEO OF CLEVER GIRL FINANCE AND BESTSEL BOLA SOKUNBI

'Through her incredible resilience, Molly Stillman teaches us that it's never too late to find faith, hope, and joy in the most unexpected circumstances. If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry will empower you as you take the next steps in your personal journey.'

AUTHOR OF A BETTER LIFE REBECCA SMITH

'Usually a memoir like this is written from old age, but Molly has live done thousand lifetimes in her three decades and remembers so many delightful and haunting details that you'll be turning pages faster and faster to find out what happens.'

BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RAISING GRATEFUL KIDS IN AN KRISTEN WELCH

'This book will definitely make you laugh a little, see yourself in Molly's honest words, and leave you inspired to live a full life that honors God. I read it in one sitting and highly recommend it!'

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159365538
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	984,162

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