About the Book
Wendy's life presents a depressing picture. At work she is criticized and overlooked for advancement. She can't remember the last time she spoke to a man on the telephone other than the superintendent of her apartment building. Her neurotic mother drives her crazy, and her family regard her as a basket case. She celebrates her fortieth birthday by going to see her therapist. Thinking about her sorry state, she waxes nostalgic for the good old days she spent in a mental hospital in her twenties. At least there she felt "pampered and protected and understood."
How bad must things be for a person to think fondly of a mental hospital? Wendy goes so far as to come up with a plan to trick a psychiatrist into having her recommitted. The plot is foiled when the psychiatrist chokes to death on a chicken bone. Forced to deal with her reality and fearful of losing her beloved therapist, Wendy pulls herself together and resolves to recover. She embarks on a series of self-help classes that she hopes will make her as happy as she suspects everybody else is.
From her first class called "Winning Ways," in which she learns from a former modeling school instructor that she does not know how to dress, speak or walk properly, to her final class in assertiveness training, in which she and fellow students almost come to blows, Wendy takes us on a hilarious and inspiring journey, a journey that is really every woman's quest to become a happier person and find fulfillment in life. Here, you'll find memorable characters like the "homeless lady," the "foreign man" and the "oily-headed instructor," whose depictions will have you laughing out loud and eager to read more. But underneath the gaiety, there are some uplifting lessons to be learned about courage, gratitude and self-acceptance. Aron's story is for anyone who ever wondered why she wasn't as content as she could be -- and tried to do something about it.
From the publisher:
“Hilarious and refreshingly honest, this chronicle of a year-long journey of self-exploration and self-help offers solace and solidarity to the myriad sufferers of clinical depression and anxiety disorders. A far cry from the typical self-help manual, this wry and subversive account is leavened with a healthy dose of humble pie and a keen sense of the absurd, ultimately showing that it's possible to recover one's self worth without losing one's sense of humor.”