Amy Wilson with Margaret Ables: Happy to Help

Name: Amy Wilson with Margaret Ables: Happy to Help
Start: 2025-01-09T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-01-09T20:00:00-05:00
Location: Brookline Booksmith

Schedule

Thu Jan 09 2025 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Brookline Booksmith | Brookline, MA

Read on for important details for this live, in-person Brookline Booksmith event.
About this Event

In person at Brookline Booksmith! Celebrate the release of Happy to Help with author Amy Wilson, in conversation with Margaret Ables.

Register for the event!
RSVP to let us know you're coming! Depending on the volume of responses, an RSVP may be required for entrance to the event. You will also be alerted to important details about the program, including safety requirements, cancellations, and book signing updates. In the event that we reach capacity and have to close RSVPs, there will not be a waiting list.

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Books will be available for purchase at the event, but you can ensure that you get a copy by preordering on this page. You can pick your book up after 6:30PM on the day of the event.
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Livestream!
When possible, events are livestreamed. Check out our store YouTube channel for livestream updates. No registration is required for the livestream.

Event Photos

Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser

A Brit&Co Most Anticipated Books of 2025

Amy Wilson, co-host of the award-winning podcast What Fresh Hell, takes a funny and insightful look at how women are conditioned to be "happy to help"--and what happens when things don't go that way.

Amy Wilson has always been an ultimate helper. As a big sister, Girl Scout, faithful reader of teen magazines, personal assistant, sitcom sidekick, and, finally, mother of three, Amy believed it was her destiny to be a people pleaser. She learned to put others first, to do what she was told, to finish what she started, and to look like she had everything under control, even when she very much did not.

Along the way, Amy started to wonder why doing it all had been her job. Still, when she tried to hand over some of her to-dos, no one was particularly interested in taking them. And when she asked for help, in return, she got advice: have a sense of humor, quit nagging, and stop trying to be perfect.

Amy dutifully took on these goals--with varying degrees of failure--until the day she started to question if something else needed to be fixed besides herself.

Hilariously relatable, Happy to Help is a collection of essays about how you can be the one everyone else depends on and still be struggling--how you can be "happy to help," even when, for your own sake, you shouldn't.

Amy Wilson is the author of the memoir When Did I Get Like This? and the co-host of What Fresh Hell, a Webby-honored podcast. Amy is also an actor who has appeared on Broadway, as a series regular on TV sitcoms, and in films. She lives with her family in New York City.

Margaret Ables is the co-host (with Amy Wilson) of the Webby-honored podcast What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood, with over 12 million lifetime downloads. Margaret is a comedian and writer whose work has appeared on MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and PBS. Margaret has created television shows for Klasky Csupo (creators of Rugrats) and was the head of video production for Nickelodeon’s mom-centric channel NickMom.

About Brookline Booksmith

We are one of New England’s premier independent bookstores, family-owned and locally run since 1961. We offer an extensive selection of new, used, and bargain books; unique, beautiful gifts; award-winning events series; and specialty foods. Every day, we strive to foster community through the written word, represent a diverse range of voices and histories, and inspire conversations that enrich our lives. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!

EVENT ACCESSIBILITY

This event will take place at street level. If possible, the event will be livestreamed to YouTube. ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event. Seats are limited. Please email us at [email protected] as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, guaranteed seating, or other accommodations. We will do our best to serve your needs!