Overview

“Entertaining and highly relatable.” —The New York Times “As hilarious as it is heart-wrenching…[A] gift of storytelling, and an act of reclamation.” —Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author A deeply personal memoir about workaholism, the addictive nature of ambition, and the humbling process of picking yourself up when the world lets you down—an anti-girlboss tale for our times for readers of Drinking: A Love Story and Uncanny Valley. After years of relentlessly racing up the professional ladder, Jennifer Romolini reached the kind of success many crave: a high-profile, C-suite dream job, a book well-received enough that reporters wanted to know the secrets to her success, and a gig traveling around the country giving speeches on “making it.” She had a handsome and clever husband, a precocious child. But beneath this polished surface was a powder keg of unresolved trauma and chronic overwork. It was all about to blow. Written with self-deprecation and wit, Ambition Monster is a gutsy and powerful look at workaholism and the addictive nature of achievement, the lingering effect of childhood trauma, and the failures of our modern rat race. This is a Cinderella story of success and a brutal appraisal of the cost of capitalism—perfect for people pleasers, overachievers, and those whose traumas have driven them to strike for “goodness,” no matter the cost. With its timely and resonant deconstructing of the American Dream, Ambition Monster is a singular excavation of selfhood, an essential interrogation about the way we work, and an inspiring and affirming call to always bet on yourself.

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9781668056585

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Jennifer Romolini is a big-hearted, hilarious genius who has generously ripped her life open to let us pick at her scars, and we are luckier for it."" --Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Quietly Hostile, Wow, No Thank You, and We Are Never Meeting In Real Life ""Ambition Monster grabbed me in its teeth and wouldn't let me go. Jennifer Romolini's memoir is propulsive and funny and human and wise all at once. It's rare to find a book that says such hard truths about work, money, and, yes, ambition. I devoured it, or maybe it devoured me."" --Claire Dederer, bestselling author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma ""Ambition Monster is as hilarious as it is heart-wrenching. Through bad boyfriends, complicated coworkers, and just enough luck, Jennifer Romolini uses sharp sentences and vulnerability to tell the story of a life spent in hot pursuit of the love, validation, and the significance we all desire. Page after page, chapter after chapter, I found myself riding with Romolini down the rabbit hole of her successes, and often enough, right into the glaring light of her failures. Ambition Monster is a gift of storytelling, and an act of reclamation."" --Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody's Daughter ""An exquisitely written reckoning with our own career hunger: where it comes from, but also what it costs us. Ambition Monster is weird and funny and brutally honest in all of the best ways. If you find yourself on the other end of burnout, trying desperately to figure out a new way forward -- wow, is this book for you."" --Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation ""Jennifer Romolini's storytelling feels like the warm, urgent whisper of a friend--a friend you'd follow to the back room of a bar, or the ends of the earth, or just the nearest park bench to cry on. Her willingness to look unflinchingly at the hardest parts of her own upbringing, anger, and workaholism renders what could be the cringiest, most embarrassing stuff of life into a tender, beautiful, and endlessly relatable journey. Ambition Monster is the rare book that makes me grateful to be a messy human, this messy human, myself. It will do the same for you."" --Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor ""Reading Ambition Monster is the equivalent of staying up very late with someone who gets you, drinking vodka and looking at the stars while telling truths, dreaming dreams and feeling woozy from being understood. It is a soul book, an intense but beautiful ride."" --Catherine Connors, author of The Feminine Revolution"

"""A personal look at the toxic underbelly of a successful corporate career...[Romolini] guides readers through the dark alleyways of corporate life, confronting the problems of viewing self-worth through the lens of a career."" --Kirkus ""Jennifer Romolini is a big-hearted, hilarious genius who has generously ripped her life open to let us pick at her scars, and we are luckier for it."" --Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Quietly Hostile, Wow, No Thank You, and We Are Never Meeting In Real Life ""Ambition Monster grabbed me in its teeth and wouldn't let me go. Jennifer Romolini's memoir is propulsive and funny and human and wise all at once. It's rare to find a book that says such hard truths about work, money, and, yes, ambition. I devoured it, or maybe it devoured me."" --Claire Dederer, bestselling author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma ""Ambition Monster is as hilarious as it is heart-wrenching. Through bad boyfriends, complicated coworkers, and just enough luck, Jennifer Romolini uses sharp sentences and vulnerability to tell the story of a life spent in hot pursuit of the love, validation, and the significance we all desire. Page after page, chapter after chapter, I found myself riding with Romolini down the rabbit hole of her successes, and often enough, right into the glaring light of her failures. Ambition Monster is a gift of storytelling, and an act of reclamation."" --Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody's Daughter ""An exquisitely written reckoning with our own career hunger: where it comes from, but also what it costs us. Ambition Monster is weird and funny and brutally honest in all of the best ways. If you find yourself on the other end of burnout, trying desperately to figure out a new way forward -- wow, is this book for you."" --Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation ""Jennifer Romolini's storytelling feels like the warm, urgent whisper of a friend--a friend you'd follow to the back room of a bar, or the ends of the earth, or just the nearest park bench to cry on. Her willingness to look unflinchingly at the hardest parts of her own upbringing, anger, and workaholism renders what could be the cringiest, most embarrassing stuff of life into a tender, beautiful, and endlessly relatable journey. Ambition Monster is the rare book that makes me grateful to be a messy human, this messy human, myself. It will do the same for you."" --Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor ""Reading Ambition Monster is the equivalent of staying up very late with someone who gets you, drinking vodka and looking at the stars while telling truths, dreaming dreams and feeling woozy from being understood. It is a soul book, an intense but beautiful ride."" --Catherine Connors, author of The Feminine Revolution"

"""Ambition Monster is perfect for people pleasers, overachievers and anyone whose trauma has driven them to push for success no matter the cost."" --Pure Wow ""[An] intimate, intensely resonant memoir about workaholism, unresolved trauma, and the ""addictive nature of ambition."" ­­-Harper's Bazaar, Best Books of 2024 ""Extremely compelling, packed with insight, humor, and radical candor... A superb reality check for anyone trying to climb the corporate ladder."" --Booklist ""A personal look at the toxic underbelly of a successful corporate career...[Romolini] guides readers through the dark alleyways of corporate life, confronting the problems of viewing self-worth through the lens of a career."" --Kirkus ""Jennifer Romolini is a big-hearted, hilarious genius who has generously ripped her life open to let us pick at her scars, and we are luckier for it."" --Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Quietly Hostile, Wow, No Thank You, and We Are Never Meeting In Real Life ""Ambition Monster grabbed me in its teeth and wouldn't let me go. Jennifer Romolini's memoir is propulsive and funny and human and wise all at once. It's rare to find a book that says such hard truths about work, money, and, yes, ambition. I devoured it, or maybe it devoured me."" --Claire Dederer, bestselling author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma ""Ambition Monster is as hilarious as it is heart-wrenching. Through bad boyfriends, complicated coworkers, and just enough luck, Jennifer Romolini uses sharp sentences and vulnerability to tell the story of a life spent in hot pursuit of the love, validation, and the significance we all desire. Page after page, chapter after chapter, I found myself riding with Romolini down the rabbit hole of her successes, and often enough, right into the glaring light of her failures. Ambition Monster is a gift of storytelling, and an act of reclamation."" --Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody's Daughter ""An exquisitely written reckoning with our own career hunger: where it comes from, but also what it costs us. Ambition Monster is weird and funny and brutally honest in all of the best ways. If you find yourself on the other end of burnout, trying desperately to figure out a new way forward -- wow, is this book for you."" --Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation ""Jennifer Romolini's storytelling feels like the warm, urgent whisper of a friend--a friend you'd follow to the back room of a bar, or the ends of the earth, or just the nearest park bench to cry on. Her willingness to look unflinchingly at the hardest parts of her own upbringing, anger, and workaholism renders what could be the cringiest, most embarrassing stuff of life into a tender, beautiful, and endlessly relatable journey. Ambition Monster is the rare book that makes me grateful to be a messy human, this messy human, myself. It will do the same for you."" --Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor ""Reading Ambition Monster is the equivalent of staying up very late with someone who gets you, drinking vodka and looking at the stars while telling truths, dreaming dreams and feeling woozy from being understood. It is a soul book, an intense but beautiful ride."" --Catherine Connors, author of The Feminine Revolution"

"""An exquisitely written reckoning with our own career hunger: where it comes from, but also what it costs us. Ambition Monster is weird and funny and brutally honest in all of the best ways. If you find yourself on the other end of burnout, trying desperately to figure out a new way forward -- wow, is this book for you."" --Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation ""Jennifer Romolini's storytelling feels like the warm, urgent whisper of a friend--a friend you'd follow to the back room of a bar, or the ends of the earth, or just the nearest park bench to cry on. Her willingness to look unflinchingly at the hardest parts of her own upbringing, anger, and workaholism renders what could be the cringiest, most embarrassing stuff of life into a tender, beautiful, and endlessly relatable journey. Ambition Monster is the rare book that makes me grateful to be a messy human, this messy human, myself. It will do the same for you."" --Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor ""Reading Ambition Monster is the equivalent of staying up very late with someone who gets you, drinking vodka and looking at the stars while telling truths, dreaming dreams and feeling woozy from being understood. It is a soul book, an intense but beautiful ride."" --Catherine Connors, author of The Feminine Revolution"

Author Information

Jennifer Romolini is the author of Weird in a World That’s Not, Ambition Monster, and is the host of the podcast Everything Is Fine. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Fast Company, Vogue, and many others.

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