Proof of Life, Jennifer Pastiloff
Proof of Life, Jennifer Pastiloff
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Proof of Life
Let Go, Let Love, and Stop Looking for Permission to Live Your Life

Author: Jennifer Pastiloff

Narrator: Jennifer Pastiloff

Unabridged: 10 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 07/08/2025


Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

An urgent rallying cry to stop holding back and start living life on your terms.

Jen Pastiloff convinced herself My life is fine and fine’s enough, until the whisper that something was missing turned full-on scream.

This is Pastiloff’s account of how she reclaimed her voice and desire by radically changing her life. She did this despite believing that change equaled death ever since her beloved father died when she was eight. (Much to her shock, change did not equal death.) She shows us it is never too late to begin again, or to let go of stories like: I don’t deserve this; I don’t get to be happy; no one will love me; I’m too old, to name a few.

Through this book, you’ll quiet your Inner Asshole, participate in the cathartic process of Shame Loss, ignore the Imaginary Time Gods, use creativity as a portal into healing and connection, and become your own permission slip. Complete with takeaways in Jen’s signature style, creativity prompts, and poetry, Proof of Life is funny, inspiring, and full of love. This book is a reminder that your birthright is not stress or shame and that you don’t have to show proof that you are worthy or deserving. You are your own proof of life.

About The Author

Jennifer Pastiloff trots the globe as a public speaker and to host her retreats to Italy, as well as her one-of-a-kind workshops, which she has taught to thousands of people all over the world. The author of the popular Substack, also called Proof of Life, she teaches writing and creativity classes called Allow, and workshops called Shame Loss, when she isn’t painting and selling her art. She has been featured on Good Morning America, and Katie Couric, and in New York magazine, People, Shape, Health magazine, and other media outlets for her authenticity and unique voice. She is deaf, reads lips, and mishears almost everything, but what she hears is usually funnier (at least she thinks so). The author of the national bestseller On Being Human, Pastiloff lives in Southern California with her son, Charlie Mel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sarah on June 21, 2025

Book Review: Proof of Life: Let Go, Let Love, and Stop Looking for Permission to Live Your Life by Jennifer Pastiloff Perspective: Female Sociologist & Public Health Professional Rating: 4/5 Reactions & Emotional Resonance Reading Proof of Life felt like witnessing a radical act of self-reclamation—one......more

Goodreads review by Brandi on August 13, 2025

I picked this book up not knowing who the author was, and probably my bad for that. I was looking at this book as a self-help book… but I felt like I got more of the authors story, rather than tips that would help me. Yes, she tied life advice to her story but… I did not resonate. The writing was al......more

Goodreads review by Tammera on August 17, 2025

This is Jennifer Pastiloff's second book following her national bestselling book, "On Being Human." Jen has an uncanny ability to put into words the things many of us feel, wonder, and question, while framing these universalities in unique and insightful ways. She delivers her message with humor, co......more

Goodreads review by Daria on March 31, 2025

Reading Proof of Life is like sitting down with a friend who isn’t afraid to tell you the hard stuff but also reminds you that you’re not alone. Jennifer Pastiloff lays it all out: grief, divorce, love, regret, reinvention, with the kind of honesty that makes you feel like she’s talking directly to......more

Goodreads review by Zibby on July 27, 2025

Proof of Life is a personal memoir that explores the process of shedding the layers of shame, fear, and expectations that keep us stuck in the past. The author writes with honesty about walking away from the life she thought she was supposed to live and embracing a more authentic existence. This boo......more


Quotes

Praise for Proof of Life

“Jennifer Pastiloff’s writing never fails to amaze me, with its depth of honesty and wisdom, and that great sense of humor. I’m a huge fan.”
—Anne Lamott

“This book is medicine and magic. I read Proof of Life at a heartbreaking time, and it left me better than it found me. Jennifer Pastiloff has a gift for saying exactly what we need to hear in exactly the way we need to hear it. Proof of Life is compassionate, deeply funny, and full of wisdom.”
—Maggie Smith, New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful

Proof of Life is the book I wish I’d had when I was younger. A beautiful reminder that shame isn’t our burden to carry, that our story is ours, and that no one ELSE, no matter what, gets to write that story. Through humor and tears, Pastiloff will inspire you to become your own permission slip, as you reclaim any parts of yourself you may have lost along the way.”
—Monica Lewinsky

“In Proof of Life, Jennifer Pastiloff dares to teeter while daring us to acknowledge that she sees us teetering. The book is a wonderful example of radical hope in motion."
—Kiese Laymon, New York Times bestselling author of Heavy

“With Proof of Life, Jennifer Pastiloff is using a literary platform to dismantle and reconfigure all that makes life worth its agonies and ecstasies. She does this by endorsing herself as the great experiment that prevails, the raw and beautiful power of example that she has come to be.”
—Josh Brolin, author of From Under the Truck and Academy Award nominee