Jessi Klein considers herself a "tom man"--a tomboy who just never grew out of it. In this keenly observant memoir about trudging into womanhood, Klein picks apart the torturous and hilarious details that make the endeavor of conforming to standards of femininity feel like a bizarre charade. Much like Inside Amy Schumer—Klein is the show's head writer—her stories have that unsettling ability to hold a mirror up to the standards of Hollywood culture.
Have you noticed the massive industries practically shaming customers into buying bath and skin products? Why do fashion advice sections only include tips up to women in their 70's? "[I]f you happen to have made it to eighty or beyond," Klein writes, "you have fallen off the outermost edges of attractiveness map into an old invisible sea." Although the story meanders through her past, it's mostly focused on the business of being a woman.
It's eye-opening and painfully funny to hear the ways Klein feels her unique "tom manness" being boxed into standards of behavior and appearance she didn't sign up for. She holds her ground in some situations, becomes worn down or relents to others, and, by the end, realizes that she's figured it out just by staying in the game.
