Spending the Holidays With People I Want to Punch in the Throat ─ Yuletide Yahoos, Ho-Ho-Humblebraggers, and Other Seasonal Scourges

For fans of Laurie Notaro and Jenny Lawson comes an uproarious and oddly endearing essay collection for anyone trying to survive the holidays in one piece.

When it comes to time-honored holiday traditions, Jen Mann pulls no punches
‧ You Can Keep Your Cookies, I’m Just Here for the Booze
‧ Nice Halloween Costume. Was Skank Sold Out?
‧ Why You Won’t Be Invited to Our Chinese New Year Party

In this hilariously irreverent collection of essays, Jen Mann, nationally bestselling author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat, turns her mordant wit on the holidays. On Mann’s naughty list: mothers who go way overboard with their Elf on the Shelf, overzealous carolers who can’t take a hint, and people who write their Christmas cards in the third person (“Joyce is enjoying Bunko. Yeah, Joyce, we know you wrote this letter.”). And on her nice list . . . well, she’s working on that one. Here, no celebration is off-limits. From hosting an ill-fated Chinese New Year party, to receiving horrible gifts from her husband on Mother’s Day, to reluctantly telling her son the truth about the Easter Bunny, Mann knows the challenge of navigating the holidays while keeping her sanity intact. And even if she can’t get out of attending another Christmas cookie exchange, at least she can try again next year.

Praise for People I Want to Punch in the Throat

“Jen Mann says the things we’re all too afraid to say. Her honest and hilarious writing style reminds me of David Sedaris and Tina Fey.”—Robin O’Bryant, author ofKetchup Is a Vegetable

“Comedy gold . . . Reading her stories is like riding a waterslide: fast, direct and unpredictable.”—New YorkDaily News

“Will make you cringe and burst out laughing at the same time.”—Karen Alpert, author ofI Heart My Little A-Holes

Jen Mann is the nationally bestselling author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat, based on her popular blog of the same name. She has also written forThe Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, NickMom, Babble, Circle of Moms, and CNN Headline News. Her blog received a 2014 Bloggie Award for Best Parenting Weblog. She lives in Overland Park, Kansas, and is married to “the Hubs” and is the mother of two children whom she calls Gomer and Adolpha on her blog. She swears their real names are actually worse.