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All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns
Like Jenny Lawson and Caitlin Moran, Emmy-nominated actress and writer Betty Gilpin delivers a lightning-strike dispatch of hilarious, intimate, and luminous essays on how to navigate this weird and wondrous life.
Betty Gilpin has a brain full of women. There’s Blanche VonFuckery, Ingrid St. Rash, and a host of others—some cowering in sweatpants, some howling plans for revolution, and some, oh God, and some…slowly vomiting up a crow without breaking eye contact? Jesus. These women take turns at the wheel. That’s why Betty feels like a million selves. With a raised eyebrow and a soul-scalpel, she tells us how she got this way.
Betty has depression, Betty has a dream, Betty has tits the size of printers. She has debilitating shame and then, impossibly, a tiny voice saying what if. She takes us from wild dissections of modern womanhood to boarding school to the glossy cringe of Hollywood. We laugh through the failures (monologue to beagle! Ancient mentors proposing fellatio!) and quietly hope with her for the dream. Whether that dream is love or liberation or enough iMDb credits to tase the demon snapping at her ankles, we won’t know until the shit-fanning end. There’s Hamlet, there’s self-sabotage, there’s PTSD from turkey. Stunning, candid, and laugh-out-loud funny, All the Women in My Brain is perfect for any reader who’s ever felt like they were more, or at least weirder, than the world expected.
Betty Gilpin has a brain full of women. There’s Blanche VonFuckery, Ingrid St. Rash, and a host of others—some cowering in sweatpants, some howling plans for revolution, and some, oh God, and some…slowly vomiting up a crow without breaking eye contact? Jesus. These women take turns at the wheel. That’s why Betty feels like a million selves. With a raised eyebrow and a soul-scalpel, she tells us how she got this way.
Betty has depression, Betty has a dream, Betty has tits the size of printers. She has debilitating shame and then, impossibly, a tiny voice saying what if. She takes us from wild dissections of modern womanhood to boarding school to the glossy cringe of Hollywood. We laugh through the failures (monologue to beagle! Ancient mentors proposing fellatio!) and quietly hope with her for the dream. Whether that dream is love or liberation or enough iMDb credits to tase the demon snapping at her ankles, we won’t know until the shit-fanning end. There’s Hamlet, there’s self-sabotage, there’s PTSD from turkey. Stunning, candid, and laugh-out-loud funny, All the Women in My Brain is perfect for any reader who’s ever felt like they were more, or at least weirder, than the world expected.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2022
338 people are currently reading
12536 people want to read
About the author
Betty Gilpin
1 book70 followersBetty Gilpin is an Emmy, Critic's Choice, and SAG Award-nominated actress and writer whose credits include GLOW, The Hunt, Nurse Jackie, Masters of Sex, The Good Wife, Elementary, American Gods, Fringe, and many, many Law & Orders. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, Glamour, Lenny Letter, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vanity Fair. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 571 reviews
September 13, 2022
Happy pub day!!!!!
All the Women In My Brain
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* I will be editing to add a quote once it is approved by the publisher ''
If you're not familiar with Betty Gilpin, then you're in for a treat. This actress and comedian has written a memoir that is as entertaining as it is brutally honest. Gilpin doesn't shy away from discussing her struggles with depression and self-doubt, but she does so with a manner of self-deprecating sarcasm that is perfectly empowering and charming. All the Women in My Brain is a celebration of the female experience, where Gilpin speaks the words that yell at you inside your own head, but she does so with beautiful prose and Irreverent, profane, and addicting jokes.
I caught myself spontaneously laughing out loud and nodding in awkward agreement while listening to this audiobook because of how engaging and liberating was (apologies to all I crossed paths with while laughing out loud in public). Betty Gilpin's distinctive narration is a huge asset to the memoir. She brings a layer to the tale that you wouldn't receive from the written words alone, and she's a delightful character to listen to.
Gilpin speaks the words that yell at you inside your own head, but she does so with beautiful prose and that irreverent, profane, and addicting voice (well, I should say, her voices). This book is utterly satisfying and will leave you feeling like you're not alone in your thoughts and struggles. You’ll end up wanting to nourish all the women in your brain too.
Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Betty Gilpin for granting me an advanced reading listener copy.
All the Women In My Brain
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* I will be editing to add a quote once it is approved by the publisher ''
If you're not familiar with Betty Gilpin, then you're in for a treat. This actress and comedian has written a memoir that is as entertaining as it is brutally honest. Gilpin doesn't shy away from discussing her struggles with depression and self-doubt, but she does so with a manner of self-deprecating sarcasm that is perfectly empowering and charming. All the Women in My Brain is a celebration of the female experience, where Gilpin speaks the words that yell at you inside your own head, but she does so with beautiful prose and Irreverent, profane, and addicting jokes.
I caught myself spontaneously laughing out loud and nodding in awkward agreement while listening to this audiobook because of how engaging and liberating was (apologies to all I crossed paths with while laughing out loud in public). Betty Gilpin's distinctive narration is a huge asset to the memoir. She brings a layer to the tale that you wouldn't receive from the written words alone, and she's a delightful character to listen to.
Gilpin speaks the words that yell at you inside your own head, but she does so with beautiful prose and that irreverent, profane, and addicting voice (well, I should say, her voices). This book is utterly satisfying and will leave you feeling like you're not alone in your thoughts and struggles. You’ll end up wanting to nourish all the women in your brain too.
Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Betty Gilpin for granting me an advanced reading listener copy.
August 2, 2022
I would have happily stayed inside betty gilpin’s brain for another 200 pages. This was incredible. It made me feel seen, it inspired me, it shifted something deep inside of my bones. I’m almost positive I was staring at each page in amused wonderment, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open. On multiple occasions her writing made me cackle and then two paragraphs later my eyes would fill with tears. I deeply enjoyed every single essay and now feel like a close and personal friend of hers.
The collection in general reminded me of Jenny Slate’s Little Weirds, an all time favorite of mine, but even more wacky and feral. I desperately tried to pace myself but could not set it down, and I annotated nearly every page. I’m sure I will be revisiting this book in a matter of months.
thank you flatiron books for the advanced reading copy!
The collection in general reminded me of Jenny Slate’s Little Weirds, an all time favorite of mine, but even more wacky and feral. I desperately tried to pace myself but could not set it down, and I annotated nearly every page. I’m sure I will be revisiting this book in a matter of months.
thank you flatiron books for the advanced reading copy!
September 18, 2022
I have followed Betty Gilpin's career since first seeing her on Nurse Jackie. Watching her, I always had a sense that she was a whip-smart weirdo. This fantastically written, quirky-in-all-the-best-ways memoir proves that to be true and then some.
August 10, 2022
This was an easy, amusing read. Betty has a lot of wit, humor, and anger that bled through these pages. Not every essay worked for me, but I recognize I'm not the target audience. But for the most part, this was a good read that highlights the terrible ways women are treated in the entertainment industry.
October 24, 2022
Most of the time, I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. I gave up 30% through.
November 2, 2022
I promise I will have more to say here about this book soon (spoiler alert, I actually interviewed Betty and I’m writing a feature to be published soon) but for now, here is my review: OH MY GOD HOLY SHIT ITS SO GOOD EVERYONE I KNOW AND LOVE NEEDS TO READ IT OR ILL DIE (Book comes out sept. 6)
Update: The link to my feature! https://www.newsweek.com/betty-gilpin...
Update: The link to my feature! https://www.newsweek.com/betty-gilpin...
September 20, 2022
Welp the marketing got me. I had seen this cover and title on an ad with no other context and couldn’t resist.
This was so hard to get through because it was so middle of the road. I didn’t know who she was, but I’ve read so many memoirs where I didn’t know who they were and got completely engrossed. Not this one. I dreaded picking it up to read a bit more and DNF at 52%. I am assuming people who love the actor will love this regardless.
The highlights were about Hollywood and how women were treated, but it never really goes deep enough to examine what’s there. It was just something that happened. Every other story outside of auditions were so mundane they could have happened to your aunt. The writer was neither comedic enough to keep my interest nor chaotic enough to warrant a memoir. I just didn’t see the point, so clearly this was just not for me.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
This was so hard to get through because it was so middle of the road. I didn’t know who she was, but I’ve read so many memoirs where I didn’t know who they were and got completely engrossed. Not this one. I dreaded picking it up to read a bit more and DNF at 52%. I am assuming people who love the actor will love this regardless.
The highlights were about Hollywood and how women were treated, but it never really goes deep enough to examine what’s there. It was just something that happened. Every other story outside of auditions were so mundane they could have happened to your aunt. The writer was neither comedic enough to keep my interest nor chaotic enough to warrant a memoir. I just didn’t see the point, so clearly this was just not for me.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
April 29, 2023
honestly 4.5 she is so funny and smart and she Gets It. can be a little redundant but that's ok I liked spending time w Betty. her and my brain people would be friends or maybe go to war I'm not sure, either way I think that's beautiful
September 16, 2022
"In all my running from myself, it is hard to remember that I also love the thing I’m running from. That I’m in all this for the big feelings. I don’t want them to be muted. Not really. But when I feel them, I feel them all the way, and the ground opens and that’s terrifying."
She kinda invaded my brain a little here. This was really great.
She kinda invaded my brain a little here. This was really great.
December 5, 2022
Like me, this book is occasionally annoying and occasionally laugh-out-loud hilarious.
September 25, 2022
I truly had no idea what to expect with this one. I've loved seeing Betty Gilpin's face in things, I loved her on GLOW, I kind of intuitied some of her experience of a person with a body like that (having previously had similar expereinces). This just absolutely blew me away. It certainly will not be for everyone, but the love letter to acting - the craft, the magic, the camaraderie; the discussion about depression and dysmorphia and just being a person...it really spoke to me. The writing was very stylized and unique, beautiful and weird. Just a stunning, gorgeous book that DID make me cry.
CW: suicidal ideation, drug use, alcohol use, eating disorder, animal death, mental illness
"We confuse recognition with safety again and again."
CW: suicidal ideation, drug use, alcohol use, eating disorder, animal death, mental illness
"We confuse recognition with safety again and again."
November 14, 2022
Don’t let the two star rating deter you!
I love some good literary essays every now and again, but these just weren’t my cuppa. Betty writes about the ebbs and flows of being a woman, mostly in Hollywood. I just found myself struggling to relate to her writing and experience, which I think in turn caused me to skim through her stories.
Her writing style was incredibly, and I mean INCREDIBLY metaphorical. I’m talking an entire metaphors lasting pages, until finically I shake my head and ask “wait, what is she talking about again?”
However, I do think there were beautiful lines, moments, and stories that were somewhat redeeming, and I could absolutely see some women LOVING this book. Just not for me.
I love some good literary essays every now and again, but these just weren’t my cuppa. Betty writes about the ebbs and flows of being a woman, mostly in Hollywood. I just found myself struggling to relate to her writing and experience, which I think in turn caused me to skim through her stories.
Her writing style was incredibly, and I mean INCREDIBLY metaphorical. I’m talking an entire metaphors lasting pages, until finically I shake my head and ask “wait, what is she talking about again?”
However, I do think there were beautiful lines, moments, and stories that were somewhat redeeming, and I could absolutely see some women LOVING this book. Just not for me.
February 14, 2023
DNF. I’ve enjoyed Betty Gilpin’s performances on “Glow”, “Roar”, and the movie “The Hunt”. I anticipated her essay collection and looked forward to getting to know her life more.
I tried readers, I tried, but I gave up after the first 2 essays. Usually when a book is a DNF for me I skim through it, but I couldn’t even bring myself to do that. There were so many metaphors and nonsensical tangents that I often had to read the same sentence three or more times. It was frustrating, and it also made me feel dumb for not getting the supposed meaning (if there even was one)
Going by the reviews here it looks like her essays have pleased other readers and I’m happy that they were able to enjoy Ms. Gilpin’s work. Perhaps I’ll just stick to watching her work on the screen
I tried readers, I tried, but I gave up after the first 2 essays. Usually when a book is a DNF for me I skim through it, but I couldn’t even bring myself to do that. There were so many metaphors and nonsensical tangents that I often had to read the same sentence three or more times. It was frustrating, and it also made me feel dumb for not getting the supposed meaning (if there even was one)
Going by the reviews here it looks like her essays have pleased other readers and I’m happy that they were able to enjoy Ms. Gilpin’s work. Perhaps I’ll just stick to watching her work on the screen
December 2, 2022
convinced betty gilpin and tom robbins have more fun writing sentences than any other living americans. drown me in metaphors baybeeee!
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May 9, 2025I went into this book having no idea who Betty was, but I walked away a fan. I had to take these essays in one at a time because her unbridled enthusiasm to word vomit was pretty real and the audiobook (which was narrated by her) was, let’s face it, pretty hyper, but between her disarming wit and sense of humor and her commendable dedication to put to page some of the most embarrassing, lock-the-door-and-throw-away-the-key thoughts we all have but pretend we don’t, I closed the back cover of this book feeling just a little prouder to be A Weird Girl.
Keeping within my personal tradition of not rating memoirs, I won’t give this book any stars. I will however recommend it with my whole chest to anyone whose in need of a big hug from a slightly neurotic (we say quirky in my family) elder millennial sister followed by a cuff on the chin telling you everything is going to be alright.
Keeping within my personal tradition of not rating memoirs, I won’t give this book any stars. I will however recommend it with my whole chest to anyone whose in need of a big hug from a slightly neurotic (we say quirky in my family) elder millennial sister followed by a cuff on the chin telling you everything is going to be alright.
September 25, 2022
I spent the first half of this book being like “this is good but it’s a little too clever with all the metaphor stuff” even as I explained to myself, “yeah, but that’s like, the whole point.” And then at a certain point Gilpin is like “yeah, I know, the metaphors,” and I realize we’ve been mind melded this whole time and she is me and I am her and every time I thought “I’ll probably give this one four stars bc I can’t get over this metaphor stuff” I was actually thinking “this is kind of how I think and that’s embarrassing right isn’t it embarrassing?” while the book also goes “yes it is extremely embarrassing but WE MUST DO IT ANYWAY”
At the end of the first chapter Gilpin says “Emotionally, this book is an opportunity to sit together on the floor of Grand Central, turn our purses inside out, and simultaneously shit our pants.” When I first read it, I kind of chuckled like, “ha, that’s funny… and also true… sublime…” but only now at the end, snot running down my face from crying through the back half of the book, do I know how real it is. Anyway Betty Gilpin rules and I love her.
At the end of the first chapter Gilpin says “Emotionally, this book is an opportunity to sit together on the floor of Grand Central, turn our purses inside out, and simultaneously shit our pants.” When I first read it, I kind of chuckled like, “ha, that’s funny… and also true… sublime…” but only now at the end, snot running down my face from crying through the back half of the book, do I know how real it is. Anyway Betty Gilpin rules and I love her.
February 17, 2023
I really like Betty Gilpin as an actress and a podcast guest. I found the book overwritten, and "too clever by half". I liked her ideas, and her thoughts about being a serious actor in a world that wants to humiliate you. Her editor needed to be more ruthless, as the prose was so full of metaphors, the clarity suffered.
November 3, 2022
You might know Betty Gilpin from her work on stage or in a variety of TV shows. I know her best from GLOW (and I was absolutely gutted when it was cancelled).
Her sardonic wit and critical views of Hollywood were on full display throughout this memoir, but it felt balanced with humility and genuine gratitude and love of the craft, as well.
There was one scene that featured an important audition and a pair of period stained underwear that was stuck to her clothes that made me absolutely cry from laughing so hard. Betty Gilpin is hilarious. And she’s also really smart.
There is a dog death, so be aware if that is a trigger for you. It’s handled tenderly, but it’s definitely emotional.
She writes in metaphors and analogies and that really worked for me. Her style is unique and it may not work for everyone, but I sure as heck loved it.
I recommend going with the audiobook of this one so you can hear Betty’s performance! So so good.
Her sardonic wit and critical views of Hollywood were on full display throughout this memoir, but it felt balanced with humility and genuine gratitude and love of the craft, as well.
There was one scene that featured an important audition and a pair of period stained underwear that was stuck to her clothes that made me absolutely cry from laughing so hard. Betty Gilpin is hilarious. And she’s also really smart.
There is a dog death, so be aware if that is a trigger for you. It’s handled tenderly, but it’s definitely emotional.
She writes in metaphors and analogies and that really worked for me. Her style is unique and it may not work for everyone, but I sure as heck loved it.
I recommend going with the audiobook of this one so you can hear Betty’s performance! So so good.
August 20, 2022
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
All the Women in my Brain by Betty Gilpin is a funny, honest memoir about accepting the multitudes within yourself.
Betty is an actor and the child of actors. She has depression and she feels like the many sides of herself exist as different women in her brain fighting for dominance.
In this memoir, we follow Betty through the highs and lows of her life as told through simultaneously heartbreaking and hilarious essays.
The way that Gilpin writes about the contrasting moments of grief and joy and success and failure were what really drew me in to this book.
Actors and performers will love this book, as will fans of Little Weirds by Jenny Slate.
All the Women in my Brain will make you laugh and cry, and it will leave you feeling hopeful about your uncertain future.
Thank you so much to Flatiron books for sending me an ARC of this book!
All the Women in my Brain by Betty Gilpin is a funny, honest memoir about accepting the multitudes within yourself.
Betty is an actor and the child of actors. She has depression and she feels like the many sides of herself exist as different women in her brain fighting for dominance.
In this memoir, we follow Betty through the highs and lows of her life as told through simultaneously heartbreaking and hilarious essays.
The way that Gilpin writes about the contrasting moments of grief and joy and success and failure were what really drew me in to this book.
Actors and performers will love this book, as will fans of Little Weirds by Jenny Slate.
All the Women in my Brain will make you laugh and cry, and it will leave you feeling hopeful about your uncertain future.
Thank you so much to Flatiron books for sending me an ARC of this book!
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September 1, 2022sometimes i forget that celebs are actually people too. there's a weird idea that famous women are stupid and have nothing interesting to say but i love reading celeb memoirs and seeing how that's not really true(this sentiment does not apply to influencers). i did also remember that actors are theater kids while reading this and i was horrified but anyway.
i've seen glow but couldn't place betty gilpin so might have to do a rewatch after this! but i asked for this because i love the cover and some of my fellow book review friends have raved about this. all the women was so honest and real and interesting. some parts dragged a little for me but overall i loved the insight into acting and being semi-famous. my favorite chapters/essays were the one about her high school depression, and the last six chapters because i cried my eyes out. i loved the way betty loves acting and not necessarily fame and the honesty about her life, her parents being actors and how that helped her, and how hard it still was for her. betty genuinely seems like a very weird women and i truly mean that in the nicest way because i really enjoyed reading this book and reading her weird thoughts.
thank you flatiron for the review copy this is out tuesday!
i've seen glow but couldn't place betty gilpin so might have to do a rewatch after this! but i asked for this because i love the cover and some of my fellow book review friends have raved about this. all the women was so honest and real and interesting. some parts dragged a little for me but overall i loved the insight into acting and being semi-famous. my favorite chapters/essays were the one about her high school depression, and the last six chapters because i cried my eyes out. i loved the way betty loves acting and not necessarily fame and the honesty about her life, her parents being actors and how that helped her, and how hard it still was for her. betty genuinely seems like a very weird women and i truly mean that in the nicest way because i really enjoyed reading this book and reading her weird thoughts.
thank you flatiron for the review copy this is out tuesday!
February 21, 2025
BETTY GILPIN YOU ARE A PERFECT WRITER YOU ARE A PERFECT WOMAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME HOW NOBODY ELSE HAS EVER UNDERSTOOD ME I AM YOU AND YOU ARE ME AND YOUR WRITING IS TRULY PERFECTION I BELIEVE THIS BOOK MAY BE MY OWN PERSONAL BIBLE
September 14, 2022
Betty Gilpin is and always will be an icon.
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October 1, 2022I listened to about 20% and did not finish it as it just wasn’t my thing.
March 12, 2025
I loved listening to Betty Gilpin read her book, All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns! This book is a memoir, a self-actualization notebook, an actor's workshop, and a feminist bildungsroman. I might have to listen again to confirm if I snort-laugh more OR if I nod my head in agreement with Gilpin more frequently. It's a toss-up for now.
My thorough enjoyment is due to her line reads and quotable digressions; several of which made me snort/guffaw aloud in public (as well as empathize and wince in profound empathy). Lord Byron has a new peer in entertaining digressions--and her name is Betty Gilpin.
I would also pay Gilpin my highest compliment: within her best digressions into silly voices that ring with truth, Gilpin achieves Wildean-levels of contradiction that lands squarely in the funny zone. For example, this line from The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” There are moments of this wit-with-truth that Betty Gilpin reaches.
If you like Maria Bamford (and who doesn't??), there’s an overlap in comic sensibility, drop-dead funny voice work, and a candid willingness to talk about depression/anxiety, being a struggling actor, body dysmorphia, and the insane expectations placed on all women in today's world (but especially women working as actors).
I have yet to watch Glow or Mrs. Davis, but the WaPo profile on Gilpin's run in Cole Escola's Broadway hit, Oh, Mary! surfaced Gilpin's book for me, and I'm glad it did!
My thorough enjoyment is due to her line reads and quotable digressions; several of which made me snort/guffaw aloud in public (as well as empathize and wince in profound empathy). Lord Byron has a new peer in entertaining digressions--and her name is Betty Gilpin.
I would also pay Gilpin my highest compliment: within her best digressions into silly voices that ring with truth, Gilpin achieves Wildean-levels of contradiction that lands squarely in the funny zone. For example, this line from The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” There are moments of this wit-with-truth that Betty Gilpin reaches.
If you like Maria Bamford (and who doesn't??), there’s an overlap in comic sensibility, drop-dead funny voice work, and a candid willingness to talk about depression/anxiety, being a struggling actor, body dysmorphia, and the insane expectations placed on all women in today's world (but especially women working as actors).
I have yet to watch Glow or Mrs. Davis, but the WaPo profile on Gilpin's run in Cole Escola's Broadway hit, Oh, Mary! surfaced Gilpin's book for me, and I'm glad it did!
March 19, 2025
Betty Gilpin is hilarious and brilliant. Many moments of this made me laugh out loud, some made me cry… a million of them made me nod my head and feel in my whole body as fellow person who grew up being a Girl With Big Feelings. firmly recommend.
April 13, 2025
(4.5/5 ⭐ , rounded up)
October 4, 2022
An often dizzying but insightful memoir! Betty Gilpin’s writing is honest & funny & considerate. She’ll be immortalized in the canon of actually worthwhile celebrity memoirs!
(She still reigns supreme has having one of the best first appearance Las Cultch episodes of all time. Congratulations to all the nominees.)
(She still reigns supreme has having one of the best first appearance Las Cultch episodes of all time. Congratulations to all the nominees.)
January 19, 2023
Betty is funny and smart. She is able to be totally relatable but unique at the same time. I recommend the audiobook for sure!
October 10, 2022
I wanna see the drafts for all their trippy, winding metaphor and middle finger to grammar. Writing based on vibes and guts. You’re a rockstar, Betty Gilpin
October 11, 2022
The anecdotes and insights were not interesting enough to write a whole book about (no offense but like..) It was very much giving “I’m so random”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 571 reviews