Happily Ali After: And Other Fairly True Tales

by Ali Wentworth

Overview

“Wentworth spins hilarious tales of parenting, relationships and, yes, getting older.” — People

The actress, comedian, media darling, and New York Times bestselling author picks up where she left off in Ali in Wonderland, dissecting modern life—and this time, on a mission of self-improvement—in a series of laugh-out-loud comic vignettes.

Moved by a particularly inspirational tweet one day, Ali Wentworth resolves to live by the pithy maxims she discovers in her feeds. What begins as a sort of self-help project quickly turns into something far grander—and increasingly funnier—as the tweets she once viewed with irony become filled with increasing metaphysical importance. And thus begins her “Unhappiness Project.”

It’s not long before Ali expands her self-improvement quest to include parenting, relationship, fitness (or lack thereof), and dieting advice. The results are painfully (at times literally) clear: when it comes to self-help, sometimes you should leave it to the professionals.

At once endearing and hilarious, thoughtful and absurd, Happily Ali After is a thoroughly entertaining collection from “the girlfriend you want to have a glass of wine with, the one who makes you laugh because she sees the funny and the absurd in everything” (Huffington Post).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062238504
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	458,297
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 5.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Ali Wentworth is the author of Ali in Wonderland and Happily Ali After. The star of the comedy series Nightcap, she made a name for herself on the sketch comedy show In Living Color, and her film credits include Jerry Maguire, The Real Blonde, Office Space, and It’s Complicated. A native of Washington, D.C., she lives in New York City with her husband, George Stephanopoulos, and their two daughters. Follow Ali on Twitter: @AliEWentworth

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Prime of Miss Alt Wentwortk 1

Part I Inspiration

Chapter 1 Live and Let Die 9

Chapter 2 Opportunity Knocks 21

Chapter 3 Set It Free 35

Chapter 4 Be Curious 45

Chapter 5 That Stinks 57

Chapter 6 Greatest Self 67

Part II Marriage

Chapter 7 Grounded 79

Chapter 8 Tug of War 87

Chapter 9 Couples Therapy 97

Chapter 10 The Other Good Wife 105

Part III Parenting

Chapter 11 Not Without My Daughters 117

Chapter 12 Awfully Crabby 129

Chapter 13 Happily Ali After 139

Chapter 14 For You, My Pet 149

Chapter 15 Help! 161

Chapter 16 Pool of Regret 169

Part IV Wellness

Chapter 17 Move Me 177

Chapter 18 Ch-ch-ch-changes 189

Chapter 19 Going for the Bronze 197

Chapter 20 Not the Face 205

Chapter 21 Is That All There Is? 213

Acknowledgments 223

Editorial Reviews

Hilarious…. Her glass isn’t half full—it’s ‘empty and cracked.’” — Entertainment Weekly (the Must List)

“Razor-sharp.” — Cosmopolitan

“Hilarious....the sort of book you’ll read through in a single sitting: It’s light, laugh out loud, and heartfelt, with plenty of moments that will resonate with women everywhere.” — Gwyneth Paltrow, Goop

“[A] collection of essays in Wentworth’s acerbic, bawdy voice….Wentworth makes for great company.” — Elle

“Irresistible.... She is sharply observant and incisively funny.... Readers who like Nora Ephron and Laurie Notaro won’t want to miss Wentworth. Reading this book is like sitting with a best girlfriend—how fitting it is that Wentworth dedicated it to all of hers.” — Library Journal

“Wentworth is funny. She gracefully and elegantly bares embarrassing stories from her past and hilariously conveys the challenges of her marriage ... and of raising their two children..... With wit, the author may inspire others to simply enjoy the moment and not let themselves get in the way.” — Kirkus

“Wentworth spins hilarious tales of parenting, relationships and, yes, getting older.” — People

From the Publisher

Razor-sharp.

Cosmopolitan

Hilarious…. Her glass isn’t half full—it’s ‘empty and cracked.’

Entertainment Weekly (the Must List)

[A] collection of essays in Wentworth’s acerbic, bawdy voice….Wentworth makes for great company.

Elle

Wentworth spins hilarious tales of parenting, relationships and, yes, getting older.

People

Razor-sharp.

Cosmopolitan

05/01/2015
Comedian Wentworth follows her best-selling Ali in Wonderland with this new collection of laugh-out-loud essays. This time though, instead of creating a satire of class and privilege, she turns her critical eye inward, on personal growth. Perhaps provoked by her favorite inspirational-quote Twitter feed, which she describes in the introduction, this reflective turn can also be explained by her looming 50th birthday. These essays allude to her youthful years in Hollywood (Wentworth is known for her roles on In Living Color and Seinfeld, among others), but focus on her present life as a middle-aged, working wife and mother. While cataloging the differences—how, for instance, her hope for a starring role on a television series has been trumped by her desire for paid work, even if that means posing as a postmenopausal woman—she is sharply observant and incisively funny. But what is most irresistible about Wentworth is her hopefulness and her relentlessly open mind, which sometimes gets her into trouble (as when she consults a psychic) but mostly accounts for why she has lived such a fun and varied life. VERDICT Readers who like Nora Ephron and Laurie Notaro won't want to miss Wentworth. Reading this book is like sitting with a best girlfriend—how fitting it is that Wentworth dedicated it to all of hers. [See Prepub Alert, 12/15/14.]—Meagan Lacy, Guttman Community Coll., CUNY

Library Journal

2015-03-15
Facing her 50th birthday, Wentworth (Ali in Wonderland, 2012, etc.) embarks on an inspirational quest to self-betterment as she reflects on teachable moments from her life. Positive reinforcement can be a hard thing to come by, especially, as the actress and comedian realized, when on the verge of middle age. At 49, Wentworth was feeling blue and overcome by lassitude. Needing a change, she turned to an unexpected source of wisdom: Twitter. By following the aphoristic teachings of 140-word inspirational tweets, the author began a project to cast off her discontent and remake a "dynamic, sleeker, and turbocharged" self. However, Wentworth's plan to use Twitter as a guide to spiritual enlightenment disappears as quickly as it is introduced. Nowhere in her anti-self-help musings about marriage, wellness, and parenting does she return to this premise. The only connection to her Twitter concept is her insertion of oddly hashtagged phrases and Twitter handles in lieu of certain surnames. She haphazardly includes inspirational wisdom gleaned from her anecdotes about a former nemesis-turned-friend, the comedy of errors that was her invitation to give a commencement speech, and a cameraman that sullied her powder room. Thankfully, Wentworth is funny. She gracefully and elegantly bares embarrassing stories from her past and hilariously conveys the challenges of her marriage to ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos and of raising their two children—e.g., when her daughter desperately wanted a guinea pig for her birthday, which, accordingly to Wentworth, is nothing more than a glorified rodent. With wit, the author may inspire others to simply enjoy the moment and not let themselves get in the way. Though the oddly unfulfilled premise remains a bungle, Wentworth charms her way to safety with her endearing reflections.

Kirkus Reviews