Glow in the F*cking Dark

December 1, 2022
A former Comedy Central executive's cheeky approach to maintaining mental health. Schuster first came on the self-help scene in 2020 with Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies, in which she wrote about successfully "re-parenting" herself after a traumatic childhood (her parents were neglectful and emotionally abusive). In this follow-up, the author chronicles the turbulent period after she lost her job at Comedy Central during the pandemic. This was not just any job, but Schuster's "happily-ever-after job." She notes, "if I'm real with you, my job was my entire life; I hung most of my self-worth on it." In the run-up to the 2020 elections, she moved from Los Angeles to Flagstaff, Arizona, to become a "ballot healer," correcting ballots that would otherwise be rejected for clerical errors. Despite the move, Schuster found herself struggling with panic attacks, her "most shadowy memories blasting to the surface," and she knew that she had to "dig deeper" and "heal my bedrock wounds." The author offers a tool kit of different self-care practices that she used to restore her mental health. These range from the fairly obvious (meditation, journaling) to the more unusual (visualizing a future self who looks like "Anjelica Huston sitting on a cloud, wearing flowing white linen and PILES of beaded necklaces"). Schuster organizes her ideas into easy-to-follow steps (each chapter ends with a bite-sized "Little Thing That Helps") and also provides funny, self-deprecating anecdotes--e.g., the time she gave herself an allergic reaction eating a self-imposed raw-beet-and-kale diet during an online meditation retreat. The author doesn't shy away from her darkest moments, writing about her troubled relationship with her father or her struggle with suicidal thoughts, which can "make you feel full-body sick, like your insides are going to leap out of your skin or, sometimes, like every muscle is paralyzed. It's an excruciating kind of agony that you want to end at all costs." An approachable, exuberant combination of memoir and self-help.

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January 2, 2023
Former Comedy Central exec Schuster follows up Buy the F*cking Lilies with an upbeat plan for readers to become more confident versions of themselves. Blending witty personal anecdotes and ample doses of wisdom, Schuster urges readers to surpass their “good-enough plateau” and “unleash inner glow.” After she lost her job during the pandemic, Schuster was at loose ends—and one day, careening down an Arizona highway on the brink of panic, she realized she had work to do. To that end, Schuster set up a three-part plan to help “heal,” “grow,” and “glow.” For healing, she suggests meditation, growing involves improving communication practices, and glowing is the process of learning to recognize one’s “inner light.” As well, she mines her life for material, as when she realized an adult slight (feeling excluded when her friends’ “wins” were celebrated) had roots in her feeling unseen as a child; she then reframed loneliness as a positive force that made her a more introspective writer. While Schuster’s tips aren’t exactly groundbreaking (and some are recycled from her last book), her stories are candid and funny, and her chatty tone keeps the narrative moving. Readers will be charmed by Schuster’s honesty and humor.

February 24, 2023

Schuster's latest self-care guide nicely complements her first book, Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies, in which she discusses reparenting herself after a traumatic childhood. Those who've read Lilies will recognize Schuster's voice as an old friend or big sister who uses her own experiences, warts and all, to teach readers how to be caretakers of their future selves. Hot off losing her Comedy Central job due to COVID cutbacks, Schuster relocates to Arizona to try and make a positive impact during the 2020 election. She is thoughtful and funny as she reflects on subpar relationships, lessons from Judaism, and experiences in therapy. She offers accessible tips on how to grow despite difficult circumstances: build rituals one at a time, get a handle on your finances (and your fertility), and make peace with your body. These ideas aren't new, but her writing is so sympathetic. The book closes by reminding readers that one's inner glow and outer expressions of gratitude are closely connected. VERDICT Readers will easily connect with Schuster's humor and vulnerability and cheer for her and for themselves in this lovely, introspective memoir and guide.

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