This Will Only Hurt a Little

Publisher's Summary

A collection of humorous autobiographical essays by the beloved comedic actress known for her roles on Freaks and Geeks, Dawson’s Creek, and Cougartown who has become “[T]he breakout star on Instagram stories.... [I]magine I Love Lucy mixed with a modern lifestyle guru” (The New Yorker). 

Busy Philipps’ autobiographical audiobook offers the same unfiltered and candid storytelling that her Instagram followers have come to know and love, from growing up in Scottsdale, Arizona, and her painful and painfully funny teen years to her life as a working actress, mother, and famous best friend. 

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. Her conversational writing reminds us what we love about her on screens large and small. From film to television to Instagram, Busy delightfully showcases her wry humor and her willingness to bare it all. 

“I’ve been waiting my whole life to write this book. I’m just so grateful someone asked. Otherwise, what was the point of any of it?”

©2018 Busy Phillips (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

I wanted to like it so much...

I think Busy is fantastic and I am such a fan. But this book SERIOUSLY didn't do it for me. It seems VERY self-congratulatory. Story told by a privileged girl from the rough streets of some of the more upperclass suburbs of Phoenix and Chicago. She goes on a handful of auditions before making breakout performances. Always throws her knee out of socket (not exactly a life-altering injury to be moaning about in a book at least THREE times.) Everytime life gets a little hard, her mom puts her on a first class flight back to wherever she can escape the hardship. It just didn't speak to me, the "troubles" she experiences really don't seem troublesome. Not exactly a "she gets it" sort of memoir. Again, I really wanted to like it, but it hurt... ALOT.

174 of 188 people found this review helpful

self indulgent and shallow

I felt like I was a therapist and Busy was in the therapist chair. This book had no depth. The story telling was overly dramatic and self indulgent (she was "devastated" and "heartbroken" throughout the book). When she started complaining about her nanny help, I totally lost any connection I had with the author.

70 of 76 people found this review helpful

This DID hurt a little.....

I made it to section 13 but I couldn't stand her valley girl accent..
Not trying to be mean but that the only way I can explain it.....
She is also very entitled its just not my cup of tea....
I wanted to like this... but it was impossible for me...

25 of 28 people found this review helpful

Pretty Good, But Feels Incomplete

I think I'd like Busy in person. She seems like she'd be a breath of fresh air. Which is exactly why I got the book. But the book stopped short. It seems like it's a primer for her "real" book. This book sounds like a journal without resolution. Lots of activity but not a lot of reflection. So I can see why people say it sounds as though she's complaining page after page.

Busy's performance was what kept me going. She was entertaining and intriguing. But I think her real book is in Hollywood. I want to know more than her feelings and thoughts about working in a place that dismisses women. I want to know what she is going to do about it. I want to hear ideas and details. I really want to hear her say she's going to take the lead and continue to call people out and hold them accountable. I want to hear her rally cry. That's the book I want to read. Otherwise, it's pointing out a problem, shrugging your shoulders, and being okay with allowing the problem to exist.

To be fair, I just completed Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, so the bar was set incredibly high.

16 of 18 people found this review helpful

The self inflated ego is real...

1. Busy loves Busy
2. She’s the greatest thing on earth
3. Attractive men can’t have brains and they’re full of themselves
4. She doesn’t like to be talked down to like she’s stupid but has no issues doing it to others
5. Did I mention she thinks she’s the greatest thing on earth..

19 of 22 people found this review helpful

Ugh Shut Up! 😣

Don’t ramble on about what a good story teller you are- just tell a good story! Busy seems so over privileged and has no idea what a life struggle actually is. Don’t waste your credit unless you want to listen to an extremely wealthy girl whine about “feeling left out” and telling you how amazing she is. She’s a decent narrator, but it doesn’t redeem the narcissist story.

19 of 22 people found this review helpful

A memoir of a brat who "sobs" everywhere she is

This is the most immature 39 year old I've ever heard still speaking as a 16 year old valley girl. She is constantly making bad choices and then running, sitting, laying, and standing on her head sobbing about them and yet never learning from them. An attention seeking brat who doesn't know enough about herself or her life to be writing a memoir about it. She sadly represents a whole generation of people who can neither feel anything real for anyone but themselves and has no clue why their lives are so screwed up as they make mistake after mistake and laugh off even the truly bad things that happened years ago and only bringing it out now because it seems to be the thing to do. As someone who was raped as an 18 year old, I knew exactly that I was being raped, my feelings about it never changed from moment to moment or year to year because I could actually Feel what was happening in my life. I don't know why we praise these people for their "realness" when they don't have a clue about what is real and what isn't. Are we praising her for being "brave" enough to share all the gory details of her life when it's easy to share your life when you can't feel your life and have no real attachment to anything that has ever happened other than it makes a good story. Ugh!

41 of 53 people found this review helpful

So great!

I ended up listening to this book in two sittings. The title is so perfect because there are some definite painful and uncomfortable parts that hurt my heart (I was crying in the first hour), but so much of it is burst out laughing hilarious.

People may think they have a good sense of who Busy is from her Instagram stories, but this is on a much deeper and more honest level. And she drops some very relateable truths, and I ended up feeling a real kinship with her.

Her narration is excellent. There were single sentences that made me laugh so hard because of her delivery. This is definitely one of my favorite audiobook experiences.

14 of 18 people found this review helpful

Exhausting but entertaining

This is a story of a completely self-absorbed and whiny woman. If I had known that going in, I could have lowered expectations and leaned it...this could have been one of those listens where you have other things going on and it would have been great! I was expecting something in the vein of Poheler or Kaling and the depth is just not there. If you have any EQ this will be painful.

The only time I felt there was real emotion was when she spoke of her sister coming home to her daughters birth- which was beautiful. Everything else was just surface level; blaming others and a total lack of accountability. It’s fine for what it is...just know what it is.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Hubris through a victim lens or vice versa

She’s a really good actress so it’s perfectly read / performed which makes it highly listenable.

The content isn’t exactly compelling. Most stories center around typical physically or emotionally injury.

She clearly views herself as exceptional, in turn presents childhood injuries as exceptional and noteworthy.

A charmed life, well told with a hugh lack of perspective. She also definitely never misses an opportunity for a name drop which adds a layer of gross.

It’s exactly like her instagram, nothing is quite real, manipulatively self effacing, lacking real passion.

She’s like a Kristen Belle, Reese Witherspoon type, flowered dresses on book covers with “do you know who I am” pull overs.

I’d like her to delve into the narcissist parts, if you cheat in all your relationship why not dig in to that pattern? Make that a human examination instead of just being like “I know! I’m awful”

4 of 5 people found this review helpful