Michele Weldon, Take The Lead’s editorial director, shares thoughtful insights from her journey toward self-discovery in Act Like You’re Having a Good Time
Weldon writes with scorching depth about what we’re all scared to talk about: aging and failing, visibility and mortality. In Act Like You’re Having a Good Time, her journalistic clarity collides head-on with cinematographic storytelling, giving us a deeply reflective page-turner on how to live truthfully and joyfully, even when it hurts. —Megan Stielstra, The Wrong Way to Save Your Life: Essays
EVANSTON, IL—Award-winning memoirist Michele Weldon has written a new essay collection titled Act Like You’re Having a Good Time (Northwestern University Press; September 15, 2020). Written with honesty and depth, Weldon’s essays explore what it means to be a mature woman seeking a life of purpose and meaning through work, family, and relationships.
In Act Like You’re Having a Good Time, Weldon reflects on growing up with her family, being a single mother, striving for applause and acceptance, failing expectations, forming new friendships, reconciling lost dreams, and restoring one’s faith. With sincerity and humor, she dissects family traditions, painting classes, lap swimming, and dress codes. Weldon also contemplates her upbringing and acknowledges that white privilege created and sustains her circumstances in life.
Looking to find connection with readers in these turbulent times, Weldon set her sights on writing a distinctive essay collection that explores the difficult parts of life, whether it be aging, facing disappointment, or learning to live with insecurities. In an age of self-care and over-the-top indulgence, Weldon has found peace and clarity through gratitude, affirming that “you are already enough.” Weldon invites readers to recognize the universal experience of learning to accept oneself and asking essential questions—even if there are no easy answers.
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About the Author:
MICHELE WELDON is the author of several books of nonfiction, including Escape Points, I Closed My Eyes: Revelations of a Battered Woman, and Writing to Save Your Life: How to Honor Your Story. She is an award-winning journalist who has written extensively for outlets such as The Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, TIME, Slate, the Chicago Tribune, and others. She is emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Book Details:
Act Like You’re Having a Good Time | Michele Weldon | Northwestern University Press | September 15, 2020 | $22.95, Paperback, 176 pages, 5 ½ x 8 ½ | ISBN: 9780810142947