Review: I See You Made an Effort by Anabelle Gurwitch

Title: I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50

Author: Annabelle Gurwitch

Published: Blue Rider Press March 2014

Status: Read from March 11 to 12, 2014 — I own a copy {Courtesy the publisher/netgalley}

My Thoughts:

I was oblivious to Annabelle Gurwitch’s identity before selecting I See You Made an Effort for review otherwise I probably would have given it a wide berth. I don’t have a single thing in common with a Jewish/atheist actress/comedienne living in Hollywood, and I still have ten years until I turn 50 anyway.

That being said I found this collection of essays on reaching middle age readable, sometimes touching, and even occasionally funny.

The most moving story is about the slow death of her friend from pancreatic cancer and the story of ‘The Sandwich Generation’ which includes the recurrence of her mother’s breast cancer.

I laughed at Annabelle’s trampoline induced injuries, ‘This is Fifty’ and her parents technological cluelessness.

The ’4am Club’ was the essay I could relate to most with those same questions and fears running nightly through my own head.

I was least interested in her accidental membership of a cult or the price of her anti aging serum, though I can see how the two are connected even if Gurwitch misses it.

I didn’t think I See You Made an Effort was anything other than an okay read but I’m probably not the right audience for it either, you might be.

I See You Made an Effort is available to purchase from

PenguinUS I AmazonUS I BookDepository