Ambition Monster, Jennifer Romolini
Ambition Monster, Jennifer Romolini
List: $25.99
On Sale: $6.99

Ambition Monster
A Memoir

Author: Jennifer Romolini

Narrator: Jennifer Romolini

Unabridged: 9 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/04/2024


Synopsis

An “intimate, intensely resonant memoir about workaholism, unresolved trauma, and the ‘addictive nature of ambition’” (Harper’s Bazaar), this is an anti-girlboss tale for our times for readers of Drinking: A Love Story and Uncanny Valley.

After years of relentlessly racing up the professional ladder, Jennifer Romolini reached the kind of success many crave: a high-profile, C-suite dream job, a book well-received enough that reporters wanted to know the secrets to her success, and a gig traveling around the country giving speeches on “making it.” But beneath this polished surface was a powder keg of unresolved trauma and chronic overwork. It was all about to blow.

Ambition Monster is a gutsy and powerful look at workaholism, the lingering effect of childhood trauma, and the failures of our modern rat race. This is a Cinderella story of success and a brutal appraisal of the cost of capitalism—perfect for people pleasers, overachievers, and those whose traumas have driven them to be perfect, no matter the cost. “If you find yourself on the other end of burnout, trying desperately to figure out a new way forward—wow, is this book for you” (Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can’t Even).

About Jennifer Romolini

Jennifer Romolini is the author of Weird in a World That’s Not, Ambition Monster, and is the host of the podcast Everything Is Fine. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Fast Company, Vogue, and many others.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Laura on January 21, 2024

Anyone interested in writing a memoir should read this book. Truly a master class in memoir writing, attention to detail, and reflecting on a past that continues to haunt the future. Born to teen parents in 1970s Philadelphia, Jennifer Romilini experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly of having yo......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on August 28, 2024

I am always impressed when people write memoirs that make them out to be horrible people. It’s an interesting kind of honesty. I think she came by it naturally because her family, particularly her mother, sounded like a trainwreck. It is difficult to read and I would love to read a memoir written by......more

Goodreads review by Lydia on February 20, 2024

Thanks NetGalley, Jennifer Romolini & Atria Books for an ARC of this book! I will say this memoir was refreshing in that Jennifer Romolini doesn’t go out of her way to make herself seem nicer/a better person like so many people do when writing about themselves. With that said, I still found myself fo......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on August 18, 2024

Well, this book would have been helpful to read about 6 years ago. In a past position, my boss's boss texted me "I wish I could just put duct tape over Ashley's mouth" while training new hires I was flown (unpaid) from MI to CA to onboard. Needless to say, it wasn't meant to be for me and she tried......more

Goodreads review by sophia the first on February 12, 2025

So I’ve been thinking, jeez I’m kind of growing up to be a workaholic. How do I chill out and not take 20 years off my lifespan? I thought this book was going to be relevant for me but it wasn’t really. It was about this girl who worked all these small jobs and gradually broke into magazine editing a......more