Actually, Nevermind: Essays

“One of the most acclaimed, in-demand superstars of comedy” (Jason Zinoman, The New York Times) Taylor Tomlinson explores all the things she’s changed her mind about, from the serious to the absurd, in her hilarious, heartfelt, and brilliant debut.

As she approaches thirty-four—the same age her mother, Angela, was at her death—Tomlinson grapples with fear and ambition, identity and doubt, and all the ways her mind has changed since the day her mom died.

In these sharply observed, uproariously funny, and moving original essays, Tomlinson leads readers through a tour of her brain and her shifting opinions about everything from love and relationships, mental health and therapy, religion and sex, food and body image, being the eldest daughter and the only woman in late-night TV, to ghosts, morning people, and more.

With the same unflinching honesty that fuels her beloved stand-up specials, she captures the dizzying contradictions of adulthood in the modern world: wanting independence while craving reassurance, chasing self-improvement while resisting change, and finally learning that certainty can be overrated. “True wisdom,” writes Tomlinson, “is accepting how little you know, and real maturity is becoming as flexible as possible. (Emotionally, not physically. Real maturity also means needing to stretch way more).”

A “fearless” (NPR) comedian who “makes even the heaviest subjects seem spikily funny” (Jason Zinoman, The New York Times), Tomlinson now brings her natural storytelling gifts and incisive wit to the page in Actually, Nevermind.