Grin and Bear It: How to Be Happy No Matter What Reality Throws Your Way

Pulos, of Bravo’s reality series Flipping Out, charms in this frank and self-deprecating cross between memoir and how-not-to guide. Pulos readily admits that her home life has been anything but calm; from her childhood dream of being an actress to beginning a “temporary” job working for Jeff Lewis, a real-estate investor-turned Bravo reality-show star. She confesses she’s always been a people-pleaser and provides a blueprint for getting along without losing your own identity. In addition to offering useful advice from her own experiences—such as “you can fail, be betrayed, and be totally humiliated on national television and not die” and “the worst-case scenario often isn’t”—Pulos shares tough-love advice from her alter ego, the tough-talking, get it done “Deb.” She isn’t shy about revealing her personal life—like the breakup of her first marriage on national TV or a humiliating encounter with a negative former teacher while working at a grocery store—which only serves to make her more appealing and relatable. Pulos’s central message in this encouraging volume is one that anyone would be smart to heed: when you’re going through hell, keep on going, because everything works out in the end. 20 b&w photos. (Mar.)