Life happened to me.
I could not have been more giddy to be writing and participating in the substack community. Newsletters! Notes! A better dopamine rush than doomscrolling! But then life came in like a bouncer at closing time. So I pared down to the basics; work, kids, food, reading, book club. I am an active day-jobber and have two deliciously needy kids, one with profound autism. Priorities, you know?
But now, I’m back—easing in with a list. A deliciously messy, can’t-look-away kind of list. A list based on obsessed book club’s last poll, PARTY GIRL BOOKS.
While off-stack, I devoured a few chaotic memoirs, and the next newsletter is going deep on the hipster grifter herself, Kari Ferrell. Yes, the scammer queen has a book: You’ll Never Believe Me. What. A. Ride.
Thanks for sticking around—let’s talk party girl lit.
The abc on the end of Obsessed.abc means, sometimes, a book club and our most recent theme was Party Girl Book Club.
As a reformed party girl, there is something comforting in novels and memoirs that center or at least heavily sideline the party. It’s nostalgic but not triggering. It’s fun revisiting a moment when time didn’t matter but at the same time feel re-avowed in my fated-decision to quit the party, sober up and be present.
Use this list to relive or live through the party girl, or get a gift for your bff who knows where all the bodies are buried, or start a year long book club theme.
The full list of my party girl picks can be found here.
The 9 Lives Party Girl
The book that started it all, aka this substack, was Down the Drain by Julia Fox. Whatever you think you think about Julia Fox, read her memoir. Unfiltered, unpredictable, and somehow still wildly charming. No notes.
Emily in Paris
You can’t unconvince me that Emily in Paris is not based on The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. Except our young party girl is Sally and it’s the 1950s but she’s utterly charming as an American stumbling her way through jobs and men in Paris.
The Escapism Party Queen
Ever made a series of terrible choices after a breakup? Queenie has. A raw, hilarious, deeply relatable spiral into the arms of bad men and worse decisions.
Party Girl by Proxy
Last month’s Party Girl Book Club pick! In Sweetbitter, Tess, our fresh to NYC party girl, falls into partying by way of restaurant lifestyle. Author Stephanie Danler immortalizes and fictionalizes her IRL time as a back waiter at the famed, Union Square Cafe by Danny Meyer. Think Kitchen Confidential meets Girls. Lots of drugs and lust.
The Survivalist Party Girl
NYC’s very own hipster grifter partied with an objective; to fleece and bail. In You’ll Never Believe Me by Kari Ferrell, we read her hysterical dissection of her past. Is redemption possible? Is it even the point? More on this one next newsletter.
The Original 2000s Party Girl
If you were an xoJane addict or lived for Gawker’s messy 2000s heyday, you already know. No redemption arc, just drugs, magazines, and Adderall-fueled chaos.
Party Girl Inspo
Holly Golightly, the OG. The parties! The drama! The inspiration for a million Halloween costumes! The book is darker than the movie but still iconic and short, a great December pick for a book club.
The Rockstar Party Girl
There’s nothing I love more in a memoir than a celeb who is willing to spill all the tea even when it not’s flattering. In Neon Angel, Cherie Currie (lead singer of the runaways) does not shy away from her drug use and hard partying.
The Party Girl in Recovery
Party Girl by Anna David is just as much about the party as it is about the recovery. It’s inspiring AF.
Certified Party Girls
They cosmo-ed. They went out. They did not have quiet nights in with herbal tea. Carrie and the girls? Certified party girls—just with better shoes. When you’re fabulous, it’s just a lifestyle, not a problem.
The Hollywood Party Doll
Trashy? Yes. Iconic? Absolutely. The perfect book-to-movie night pick—mocktails, vintage nightgowns, and a little gossip included.
And just like that, I have hit the limit so please go visit my full list at my affiliate link to see who else I included. My newsletter is 99% free so it’s nice to get a few pennies off the bad guys.
What books did I miss? What’s your favorite Party Girl Book?
Good to see you back Jody. Am drawn to The Dud Avocado - how have I not heard of it! Did you end up watching Sweetbitter? Curious how it compares to the book.
Life happens to the best of us! Glad things have settled down and thank you for all the book suggestions! Now which one to read first??!!! 😊