How to Murder Your Life (Hardback)
Cat Marnell (author)- Not available
'I was twenty-six years old and an associate beauty editor at Lucky, one of the top fashion magazines in America. That's all that most people knew about me. But beneath the surface, I was full of secrets: I was a drug addict, for one. A pillhead. I was also an alcoholic-in-training who guzzled warm Veuve Clicquot after work alone in my boss's office with the door closed; a conniving and manipulative uptown doctor-shopper; a salami-and-provolone-puking bulimic who spent a hundred dollars a day on binge foods when things got bad (and they got bad often); a weepy,wobbly, wildly hallucination-prone insomniac; a tweaky self-mutilator; a slutty and self-loathing downtown party girl; and - perhaps most of all - a lonely weirdo. But, you know, I had access to some really fantastic self-tanner.'
By the age of 15, Cat Marnell longed to work in the glamorous world of women's magazines - but was also addicted to the ADHD meds prescribed by her father. Within 10 years she was living it up in New York as a beauty editor at Conde Nast, with a talent for 'doctor-shopping' that secured her a never-ending supply of prescriptions. Her life had become a twisted merry-go-round of parties and pills at night, while she struggled to hold down her high-profile job during the day.
Witty, magnetic and penetrating - prompting comparisons to Bret Easton Ellis and Charles Bukowski - Cat Marnell reveals essential truths about her generation, brilliantly uncovering the many aspects of being an addict with pin-sharp humour and beguiling style.
'New York's enfant terrible...Her talent has resided in her uncanny ability to write about addiction from the untidy, unsafe, unhappy epicentre of the disease, rather than from some writerly remove.' Telegraph
'I LOVE this book' Catriona Innes, Cosmopolitan Magazine UK
'An unputdownable, brilliantly written rollercoaster' Shappi Khorsandi
'Brilliantly written and harrowing and funny and honest' Louise France, Times Magazine UK
'Easily one of the most anticipated memoirs of the year...[Marnell's] got an inimitable style (and oh my god, so many have tried) and a level of talent so high, it's impossible not to be rooting for her.' NYLON
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
ISBN: 9780091957353
Number of pages: 384
Weight: 534 g
Dimensions: 222 x 144 x 34 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
A marvel of a book...Through the highs, lows and lols, the self-loathing, self-tan and self-medicating, How to Murder Your Life is possibly the best book ever written by a recovering drug addict about the beauty industry. * i-D (Vice) *
Marnell is a great storyteller. Funny, with the clever hustler's knack for an energetically spun tall tale, she has an upbeat tone that hardly falters, even when she recounts the most harrowing episodes of her life. * The New Yorker *
[Marnell] writes about her life with a candor and self-awareness that is unexpected...I read this book in two wide-eyed sittings, cringing and laughing the whole way through. * BuzzFeed *
The book is as compelling - and as problematic - as her magazine writing: vivid, maddening, heartbreaking, very funny, chaotic and repetitive, as benders are. * New York Times *
If you're captivated by the irresistible trio of beauty, success, and addiction, surrender to Cat Marnell's How to Murder Your Life. The xoJane columnist dishes on her previous wild-child ways, from shoplifting to party hopping to spiritual groveling, to finding a measure of humor and grace. * Elle *
[Marnell's] memoir brims with all the intoxicating intrigue of a thriller and yet all the sobering pathos of a gifted writer's true-life journey to recover her former health, happiness, ambitions and identity. * Harper's Bazaar *
Fantastically entertaining. * Glamour *
A gifted memoirist ... [She displays] a willingness to tell unflattering truths about herself that reminded me of Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of Prozac Nation * New York Times Magazine *
Challenging ... captivating and controversial * The Atlantic Wire *
Marnell is arguably the Internet's most divisive writer ... reading about a drug addict's life while she's an active addict, especially in real time, is fascinating and a little bit scary * The Daily Beast *
With her divisive mix of ego, honesty, sordidness and humor, Ms. Marnell is becoming the latest online lightning rod * Wall Street Journal *
Jaw-dropping. * New York Post *
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“Compelling”
When I first heard of Cat Marnell's memoir, I was tempted to dismiss it as yet another addiction-misery-memoir, but this never descends into self-pity (or self-justification, which is refreshing) and this is... More
“Thrills, spills and pills”
I first heard of ex-beauty editor Cat Marnell when she got fired from XOJane for being a little TOO addicted to a catholic range of substances... and was subsequently hired by Vice. Thankfully, this is about as far... More
“Eye opening and insightful ”
A brutally frank and compelling memoir from a self confessed addict. This was hard going at times, Marnell comes across as quite flippant at first and some of her life events are horrendous - but by the end I felt... More
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