This Will Only Hurt a Little - Busy Philipps

This Will Only Hurt a Little

By Busy Philipps

  • Release Date: 2018-10-16
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 544 Ratings

Description

A hilarious, heartfelt, and refreshingly honest memoir and New York Times bestseller by the beloved comedic actress known for her roles on Freaks and Geeks, Dawson’s Creek, and Cougar Town who has become “the breakout star of Instagram stories...Imagine I Love Lucy mixed with a modern lifestyle guru” (The New Yorker).

There’s no stopping Busy Philipps. From the time she was two and “aced out in her nudes” to explore the neighborhood (as her mom famously described her toddler jailbreak), Busy has always been headstrong, defiant, and determined not to miss out on all the fun. These qualities led her to leave Scottsdale, Arizona, at the age of nineteen to pursue her passion for acting in Hollywood. But much like her painful and painfully funny teenage years, chasing her dreams wasn’t always easy and sometimes hurt more than a little.

In a memoir “that often reads like a Real World confessional or an open diary” (Kirkus Reviews), Busy opens up about chafing against a sexist system rife with on-set bullying and body shaming, being there when friends face shattering loss, enduring devastating personal and professional betrayals from those she loved best, and struggling with postpartum anxiety and the challenges of motherhood.

But Busy also brings to the page her sly sense of humor and the unshakeable sense that disappointment shouldn’t stand in her way—even when she’s knocked down both figuratively and literally (from a knee injury at her seventh-grade dance to a violent encounter on the set of Freaks and Geeks). The rough patches in her life are tempered by times of hilarity and joy: leveraging a flawless impression of Cher from Clueless into her first paid acting gig, helping reinvent a genre with cult classic Freaks and Geeks, becoming fast friends with Dawson’s Creek castmate Michelle Williams, staging her own surprise wedding, conquering natural childbirth with the help of a Mad Men–themed hallucination, and of course, how her Instagram stories became “the most addictive thing on the internet right now” (Cosmopolitan).

Busy is the rare entertainer whose impressive arsenal of talents as an actress is equally matched by her storytelling ability, sense of humor, and sharp observations about life, love, and motherhood—“if you think you know Busy from her Instagram stories, you don’t know the half of it” (Jenni Konner). Her conversational writing reminds us what we love about her on screens large and small. From “candid tales of celebrity life, mom life, and general Busy-ness” (W Magazine), This Will Only Hurt a Little “is everything we’ve been dying to hear about” (Bustle).

Reviews

  • I love Busy!

    5
    By Marisas266
    Such an amazing collection of stories!
  • So good

    5
    By m1014mp
    If you liked bossy pants this is a book for you.
  • Thank you Busy

    5
    By Susanq22
    I’ve read this book twice now and I feel so inspired and touched by Busy Phillips and her life’s story. Our journeys are so similar in many many ways that I felt like I was right there in the moment with her living through everything along side her as a kindred spirit. Thank you Busy for sharing so much of yourself with all of us. You are an amazing person and of course very sparkly!
  • Very entertaining!

    4
    By Ladadama43
    Im left with questioning is this the same childhood for all 90’s kids? Did Busy eloquently describe the childhood of that time or did she uncover her parents traumas and build resilience in the process or both? I resonated with her entire childhood and teen years. Whew, a good read, worth the personal reflection needed.
  • Get the audiobook!

    5
    By Sweet Potato Girl
    So fun to listen to her tell her story. Absolutely loved it.
  • I couldn’t put it down.

    5
    By ashleyb67
    I read this entire book in an afternoon because the story was so gripping. I felt all the feelings and could hear Busy in my head as I read along. The book is honest and real and never too much. Thank you, Busy, for opening up and sharing it all.
  • Fun read!

    5
    By Jsma976
    I loved it! If you enjoy her show and her Insta, you will enjoy the book!
  • Funny But Self Involved

    4
    By makexitxcount
    This book was interesting in that it showed the ins and outs of Hollywood and what it is like being on the high of a hit TV show and the low of not getting your pilot picked up. However, Busy seemed very narcissistic and self involved to a point where it’s almost annoying if she wasn’t so funny about it! Good book, would recommend.
  • Abc ali p

    5
    By abc ali p
    Fun. Bold. Feminine. Tough
  • Love

    5
    By shelbyAH93
    Laughed cried laughed more.. this book sparkles