Thank you to LibroFM and Harperaudio for providing me with a copy of Georgia Pritchett’s memoir My Mess is a Bit of a Life: Adventures in Anxiety.

I was initially attracted to the catchy title and the theme. Although I don’t suffer from anxiety, the topic has been coming up a lot with my friends. I wanted to better understand what they are going through and I hoped that Georgia Pritchett’s memoir would give me greater insight. I’m not sure if it accomplished that goal, as I feel that Pritchett’s personality and deflection through humor reflects her experience with anxiety and that likely to a person suffering from anxiety, some of what she is going through might be highly relatable, other aspect, not. I don’t mean to say that Pritchett is even attempting to speak for all people who have anxiety, only that I had the realization of how personal the problem can be.

Pritchett is an enormously talented television writer, her projects include Veep and Succession. I picked her memoir without connecting the dots that this was the same Georgia Pritchett as in the credits of some of my favorite shows. Connecting the dots was a delightful surprise. Her memoir is quirky, hilarious, and deeply intimate.

I don’t know what Pritchett’s voice sounds like and she does not narrate her audio book. The book is narrated by Katherine Parkinson who is fantastic at capturing Pritchett’s dry wit and the pacing of the piece, especially ramping up in anxious moments. The combination of Pritchett’s humor and of Parkinson’s narration reminded me of David Sedaris, whom I adore. I enjoyed the entire memoir, but I was particularly fond of Pritchett’s childhood stories. She had such a peculiar perspective on adults and other children. I felt like she’s a kindred spirit.

I can’t wait for the next season of Succession, but I also hope that Pritchett will find time to share more non-fiction writing. She’s fabulous!