So Here's the Thing...: Notes on Growing Up, Getting Older, and Trusting Your Gut

by Alyssa Mastromonaco (Read by), Lauren Oyler (Contribution by)

Overview

From the New York Times bestselling author of Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? comes a fun, frank book of reflections, essays, and interviews on topics important to young women, ranging from politics and career to motherhood, sisterhood, and making and sustaining relationships of all kinds in the age of social media.

Alyssa Mastromonaco is back with a bold, no-nonsense, and no-holds-barred twenty-first-century girl's guide to life, tackling the highs and lows of bodies, politics, relationships, moms, education, life on the internet, and pop culture. Whether discussing Barbra Streisand or The Bachelor, working in the West Wing or working on finding a wing woman, Alyssa leaves no stone unturned...and no awkward situation unexamined.


Like her bestseller Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?, SO HERE'S THE THING... brings a sharp eye and outsize sense of humor to the myriad issues facing women the world over, both in and out of the workplace. Along with Alyssa's personal experiences and hard-won life lessons, interviews with women like Monica Lewinsky, Susan Rice, and Chelsea Handler round out this modern woman's guide to, well, just about everything you can think of.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781549178900
Publisher:	12/Twelve
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Alyssa Mastromonaco served as assistant to the president and director of scheduling and advance at the White House from 2009 to 2011 and as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for operations at the White House from 2011 to 2014. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? with Lauren Oyler and a contributor to Crooked Media.


Lauren Oyler is a writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Baffler, the New Republic, VICE, and elsewhere.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

WTF Is Politics Anymore? 5

Susan Rice on How Diplomacy Has Changed (and How Young Women Can Help Shape It) 19

Shits, Giggles, and Medical Marijuana 23

Are You There, God? It's Me, Alyssa 32

When John Kerry Saw Me in My Underwear 40

The Meow Coat Has Claws 44

What to Expect When You're Not Expecting to Ride a Motorcycle for Hundreds of Miles Along the Japanese Coast 50

Oh, the Places You'll Go! (And Be Spied on by Foreign Governments) 61

Why You Should Always Listen to Michelle Obama 73

Dan Pfeiffer on How Platonic Life Partners Help You Avoid Catastrophe 76

"How Do I Get to Be You by the Time I'm Thirty-Five?" 79

Quitters Sometimes Win 93

Ted Chiodo's List of Words AM Uses That You Should Pay Attention To 99

Electric Chocolate Cream Pie Acid Test 102

The Woman in Red Leather Pants 108

"Tell Alyssa She Needs to Get Better at Email" 119

In Praise of Monica Lewinsky 129

Monica Lewinsky on How Not to Be a Jerk on Twitter 136

How Jennifer Aniston Got Me Through My Breakup 139

I Was Wrong About John Mayer 148

The Ones Who Got Away 155

A Note on Sex 164

Altared States 165

What to Expect When You're Not Expecting 175

Victory Over Big Panty 194

How I Became a Crazy Cat Lady 201

Chelsea Handier on My Unhealthy Relationship to Cats 208

Long May You Run (and Not Burst into Flames) 210

I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Specifically: Barack Obama and Jennifer Hudson) 219

Acknowledgments 226

Editorial Reviews

If you do not wish to learn that Obama's deputy chief of staff for operations got crippling diarrhea on several continents, and must eat a bland breakfast of muesli and carry Gas-X and ginger chews in her purse, then Mastromonaco's buoyant memoir/extended advice column, So Here's the Thing…, may not be for you. But for young women with dreams of working in the White House, there's nothing bland about Mastromonaco's story. Her audiobook narration sounds like a quirky, successful girlfriend offering unsolicited, occasionally useful, always funny life and career advice…Mastromonaco comes off as spunky and down-to-earth…

The New York Times Book Review - Amy Chozick

"Reading So Here's the Thing... is exactly like hanging out with Alyssa. You will laugh a lot, learn even more, and just be grateful that she is your friend."—Dan Pfeiffer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Yes We (Still) Can and cohost of Pod Save America

"My favorite thing about Alyssa's books is knowing someone as normal as the rest of us can work in the most prestigious positions in the world and do it with a sense of humor and self-deprecation. We could all do with more of both. Read it, and laugh."—Chelsea Handler, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

"Growing up is hard. Trusting your gut? Sheesh. That sounds impossible at times. Let Alyssa Mastromonaco hold your hand and show you that with some good laughs and a lot of heart, life can be a little less daunting. I wish I'd read this book when I was younger, but it still resonates today, and I know it will be relevant at all stages of life. What a gift."—Aminatou Sow, co-founder of Tech LadyMafia

"I'm just going to say this book lets the 'cat out of the bag,' so to speak: everyone who knows her or reads her work wants to be Alyssa's best friend. SO HERE'S THE THING... makes it impossible not to want that. Her life stories somehow make all of us feel seen. All of which means my position on the waiting list for the best friend title may shift. While I'm coming to terms with that, I will also say I'm all for mixing patterns, just not always the ones Alyssa puts together."—Stacy London, New York Times bestselling author of The Truth About Style

"[So Here's The Thing...] is a delightful, digestible nosh of useful tips from Mastromonaco's long career in politics."—Portland Mercury

"Funny and...insightful. An entertaining miscellany by a sharp-eyed observer."—Kirkus

"Behind-the-scenes moments from [Mastromonaco's] career provide insights into the hectic work of campaigns and the White House...readers will enjoy the relaxed tone that Mastromonaco and coauthor Oyler set throughout — like chatting with old friend, who just happened to have Mindy Kaling set up her Twitter account."—Booklist

PREVIOUS PRAISE FOR WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? AND ALYSSA MASTROMONACO:


"Always fascinating and very funny, Alyssa's book is full of juicy stories from one of the world's most glamorous jobs."—Mindy Kaling, New York Times bestselling author of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) and Why Not Me?

"WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? is everything we've come to know and love about Alyssa over the decade we worked with her: brilliant, funny, grounded, and inspiring. Anyone who's interested in politics - especially young people - should read this book."—Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Favreau, former communications director and speechwriter for President Barack Obama

"Few people have had as much access and influence over national events over the last decade as Alyssa Mastromonaco. No matter how serious the crisis or hard the problem, Alyssa took care of it with great skill and professionalism, and even greater humor. This book tells the story of a young woman succeeding under extraordinary circumstances, and throughout it all, never taking herself too seriously."—Stephanie Cutter, former deputy campaign manager for President Barack Obama

"I've often wondered how a woman can be so many things wrapped up in one dynamic package. Alyssa is my fairy godmother: she's wise, resourceful, insanely smart, and makes me laugh in a very special way. Her stories - from the front line of the White House to her kitchen - will entertain, inspire, and humor you for a long time to come."—Amanda de Cadenet

"Alyssa is a force: whip-smart, humble, and funny as hell. Her writing is as fearless as she is."—Sophia Amoruso, founder and CEO of Girlboss

"When imagining working in the White House, many picture meaningful meetings, glamorous dinners, and high-stakes decision making. It can be all of those things. But as Alyssa Mastromonaco writes in WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?, the reader gets a real and raw peek behind the curtains where Alyssa experiences the good, the bad, the distressing, and the often hilarious. Alyssa has real grit and grace, and her book is her story very well told."—Dana Perino, New York Times bestselling author of And the Good News Is... and Let Me Tell You About Jasper...

"A combination memoir and compendium of very good suggestions about how to get ahead — very far ahead — at an early age."—The Washington Post

From the Publisher