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Happily Ali After

And Other Fairly True Tales

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"Wentworth spins hilarious tales of parenting, relationships and, yes, getting older." — People

The actress, comedian, media darling, and New York Times bestselling author picks up where she left off in Ali in Wonderland, dissecting modern life—and this time, on a mission of self-improvement—in a series of laugh-out-loud comic vignettes.

Moved by a particularly inspirational tweet one day, Ali Wentworth resolves to live by the pithy maxims she discovers in her feeds. What begins as a sort of self-help project quickly turns into something far grander—and increasingly funnier—as the tweets she once viewed with irony become filled with increasing metaphysical importance. And thus begins her "Unhappiness Project."

It's not long before Ali expands her self-improvement quest to include parenting, relationship, fitness (or lack thereof), and dieting advice. The results are painfully (at times literally) clear: when it comes to self-help, sometimes you should leave it to the professionals.

At once endearing and hilarious, thoughtful and absurd, Happily Ali After is a thoroughly entertaining collection from "the girlfriend you want to have a glass of wine with, the one who makes you laugh because she sees the funny and the absurd in everything" (Huffington Post).

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    • Library Journal

      January 1, 2015
      First brought to us by the comedy show "In Living Color" and author of the "New York Times" best-selling "Ali in Wonderland", Wentworth chronicles the self-improvement mission she launched after receiving an inspirational tweet. She vowed to try to live by various smart little adages she discovered in her feeds, but what started out somewhat tongue in cheek got a little deeper.

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Library Journal

      May 1, 2015

      Comedian Wentworth follows her best-selling Ali in Wonderland with this new collection of laugh-out-loud essays. This time though, instead of creating a satire of class and privilege, she turns her critical eye inward, on personal growth. Perhaps provoked by her favorite inspirational-quote Twitter feed, which she describes in the introduction, this reflective turn can also be explained by her looming 50th birthday. These essays allude to her youthful years in Hollywood (Wentworth is known for her roles on In Living Color and Seinfeld, among others), but focus on her present life as a middle-aged, working wife and mother. While cataloging the differences--how, for instance, her hope for a starring role on a television series has been trumped by her desire for paid work, even if that means posing as a postmenopausal woman--she is sharply observant and incisively funny. But what is most irresistible about Wentworth is her hopefulness and her relentlessly open mind, which sometimes gets her into trouble (as when she consults a psychic) but mostly accounts for why she has lived such a fun and varied life. VERDICT Readers who like Nora Ephron and Laurie Notaro won't want to miss Wentworth. Reading this book is like sitting with a best girlfriend--how fitting it is that Wentworth dedicated it to all of hers. [See Prepub Alert, 12/15/14.]--Meagan Lacy, Guttman Community Coll., CUNY

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Library Journal

      January 1, 2015

      First brought to us by the comedy show In Living Color and author of the New York Times best-selling Ali in Wonderland, Wentworth chronicles the self-improvement mission she launched after receiving an inspirational tweet. She vowed to try to live by various smart little adages she discovered in her feeds, but what started out somewhat tongue in cheek got a little deeper.

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      April 1, 2015
      Facing her 50th birthday, Wentworth (Ali in Wonderland, 2012, etc.) embarks on an inspirational quest to self-betterment as she reflects on teachable moments from her life. Positive reinforcement can be a hard thing to come by, especially, as the actress and comedian realized, when on the verge of middle age. At 49, Wentworth was feeling blue and overcome by lassitude. Needing a change, she turned to an unexpected source of wisdom: Twitter. By following the aphoristic teachings of 140-word inspirational tweets, the author began a project to cast off her discontent and remake a "dynamic, sleeker, and turbocharged" self. However, Wentworth's plan to use Twitter as a guide to spiritual enlightenment disappears as quickly as it is introduced. Nowhere in her anti-self-help musings about marriage, wellness, and parenting does she return to this premise. The only connection to her Twitter concept is her insertion of oddly hashtagged phrases and Twitter handles in lieu of certain surnames. She haphazardly includes inspirational wisdom gleaned from her anecdotes about a former nemesis-turned-friend, the comedy of errors that was her invitation to give a commencement speech, and a cameraman that sullied her powder room. Thankfully, Wentworth is funny. She gracefully and elegantly bares embarrassing stories from her past and hilariously conveys the challenges of her marriage to ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos and of raising their two children-e.g., when her daughter desperately wanted a guinea pig for her birthday, which, accordingly to Wentworth, is nothing more than a glorified rodent. With wit, the author may inspire others to simply enjoy the moment and not let themselves get in the way. Though the oddly unfulfilled premise remains a bungle, Wentworth charms her way to safety with her endearing reflections.

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