growing up is hard to do

Comedian Jessi Klein’s new memoir You’ll Grow Out Of It takes a cold, hard look at what it means to be a woman today – and finds a fan in Laura Collins

This month’s ELLE Book Club read comes Amy Schumer-approved.

As a writer, I harbour secret feelings of resentment to other writers who seem so easily, naturally, casually hilarious in their written work. Jessi Klein is one of those people. Who knows, she might have laboured over every turn of phrase or snappy one-liner in her new book, a series of personal essays called You’ll Grow Out

Of It, but if she did, it’s impossible to tell. During a busy week, I might have 30 new books land on my desk, so I rely a lot upon instinct and first impression when I tear a mail parcel open and pull the freshly printed books out. The three things that had me instantly intrigued by Klein’s memoir were (in this particular order): the title, which spoke to my confused, repressed teenage self; the image, of the author in the first grade, which I find both brave and hilariously self-deprecating; and the quote, by Amy Schumer, calling Klein “the best friend you wish you had”. When I turned the book over and saw that Ira Glass, host and executive producer of This American Life and my favourite 57-year-old man on the planet, had also recommended it, I immediately faked a headache so I could get off work early, take the book home and read it without distraction.

Klein is the head writer and executive producer of Inside Amy Schumer, helping write now-iconic sketches such as “Last F**kable Day” and “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer”. Her keen and astute observation of modern femininity extends beyond comedy sketches all the way to her first book, like the way she describes the difference between a “poodle” and a “wolf” – poodles are women who don’t have to try hard to be beautiful, like Angelina Jolie, while wolves can still be beautiful, but definitely spend thousands of dollars to maintain said beauty, like Jennifer Aniston (I’m a wolf, and so is Klein). Or how she discusses her relationship with her therapist, Connie, with the same importance she uses to dissect The Bachelor or her pilgrimage to Oprah and Gayle’s favourite wellness facility, Miraval Resort & Spa in Arizona.

Yes, Jessi Klein is all of us. Because, as much as I love reading memoirs by other funny women like Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling and Joan Rivers, they’re still fabulously famous people who are best friends with celebrities and on the right side of the Emmys velvet rope. Klein’s own recount of her Emmys experience is both brutal and hilarious – “The Emmy urban planners have created these corrals so that everyone knows exactly, and literally, where they stand. And in my case, it is between the red carpet with the ‘Prinzezzes’, who are being treated as such, and the huddled masses of fans on my left, yearning for a photograph of anyone famous. Even when I think I have reached the top, I am still stuck in the middle.”

The moment that clinches her real-world relatability is when she flips out at seeing, and getting a photo with, The OC’S Ryan Atwood (who, IRL, is a man named Ben Mckenzie) in the VIP lounge after she’s just stepped off stage clutching her best sketch show Emmy – “If you are curious what it feels like to have Ben Mckenzie’s arm around you, it’s like being in the womb. You feel like you are asleep under a cashmere rainbow. You feel safe. You feel like nothing bad could ever happen to you again.”

I take back what I said about feeling resentful. Jessi Klein, if you’re reading this and looking for a new best friend, call me.

You’ll Grow Out Of It by Jessi Klein ($29.99, Nero)

This is our second instalment of the ELLE Book Club – a place where each month we recommend one brilliant read we know you will love and, if you’re anything like us, will want to discuss endlessly (or at least until next month’s book comes along). Get involved in the conversation by liking our Facebook page, @elleaus