Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault

Essays from the Grown-up Years

By: Cathy Guisewite

Narrated by: Cathy Guisewite, Anna Guisewite

A national best seller

From the creator of the iconic "Cathy" comic strip comes her first collection of funny, wise, poignant, and incredibly honest essays about being a woman in what she lovingly calls "the panini generation".

As the creator of "Cathy", Cathy Guisewite found her way into the hearts of fans more than 40 years ago and has been there ever since. Her hilarious and deeply relatable look at the challenges of womanhood in a changing world became a cultural touchstone for women everywhere.

Now, Guisewite returns with her signature wit and warmth in this debut essay collection about another time of big transition, when everything starts changing and disappearing without permission: aging parents, aging children, aging self stuck in the middle.

With her uniquely wry and funny admissions and insights, Guisewite unearths the humor and horror of everything from the mundane (trying to introduce her parents to TiVo and facing four decades' worth of unorganized photos) to the profound (finding a purpose post-retirement, helping parents downsize their lives, and declaring freedom from all those things that hold us back). No longer confined to the limits of four comic panels, Guisewite holds out her hand in prose form and becomes a reassuring companion for those on the threshold of "what happens next". Heartfelt and humane and always cathartic, Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault is ideal for mothers, daughters, and anyone who is caught somewhere in between.

©2019 Cathy Guisewite (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

One of:

• Real Simple's "Best Books of 2019 (So Far)"
• O Magazine’s "25 2019 Books We Can't Wait For"
• Parents.com's "9 Books That Make Great Mother-Daughter Gifts"
• PopSugar’s "Buzzy Books to Read this Spring"
• InStyle's "7 Books to Put on Your April Reading List"
• Nylon's "15 Great Books to Read this April"
• Bustle’s "29 New Memoirs Out in Spring to Help You Welcome Warm-Weather Reading"

"The creator of the iconic cartoon Cathy comes out of retirement to make us laugh, cry, and remind us - with humor and pathos - that yes, we...live to tell the tale." (O: The Oprah Magazine)

"Often hilarious and true, [Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault] gets at that tension between the empowerment propaganda women are raised on and the gendered I-am-responsible-for-everyone's-well-being reality in which most of us still live." (Time)

"This new book will feel like a friend...the kind who knows exactly what to say when you need some reassurance." (NPR)

grew up with cathy

we feel seen and a bit of closure. we were alone and together on this journey, with hopes, successes and frustrations. thank you, cathy

A wonderful surprise

I wasn't expecting to find so much depth & wisdom in a book that I knew would be funny. The laughs are there, for sure! But Cathy Guisewite is a gifted essayist as well as humorist. She speaks perfectly for my generation about having kids and also worrying about your parents. I was an older single mommy myself, I adopted a 7 year old daughter who is now in college. I never thought I would have my experiences reflected back to me so lovingly and clearly.
I think the audiobook is perfect, too, because her mom speaks many of her own lines.

Not my demographic, but still good

I am very much the wrong demographic for this book, but it was still pretty enjoyable.

Erma Bombeck Lives!

This book is so wonderful! It helps me laugh at all the little stuff, so I can handle the big stuff! Thank you, Cathy!!

Thank you Cathy, You’re Not Alone!

Ladies- if you are in between teenagers and aging parents, this book is for you. These essays are so true and helpful. It made me laugh, smile and feel like I was sharing time with my best friend. Sometimes, I think that I’m the only one thinking some of the same things in this book. It is nice knowing we are not alone!

This Book Is Funny!

Having been a fan of the “Cathy” cartoon, and of her many appearances as a guest on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, I was pleased to find this book of essays written by Cathy Guisewite. She retired from her syndicated comic strip career some time ago, and where’s she been? Apparently, she took time off to do the mom thing. Good for her! And she’s been thinking and stewing, which is good for us.

This book is really funny, with enough one-liners that Cathy should think about becoming a standup comedian. The book is also deep and intellectual with moral objections and arguments on a range of topics related middle aged women: rearing children, building a career and a family, and, along with her sisters, caring for 90 year old parents. The issues in this collection are definitely those of an affluent white lady, but she owns it. Even the rich white lady faces job setbacks, heartbreaks, personal anxieties, and sees the objectification of women in the clothing choices available at the mall, to be super specific.

Cathy Guisewite gets personal in this book, too. She reveals her humble heritage, as granddaughter to an illiterate Slovakian country bride whose own daughter, Cathy’s mom Anna, taught her to sign her name when Granny was about 28. Cathy’s mother, first in her family to attend college, majored in journalism and worked for a short, thrilling time before marriage writing ad copy for a midwestern department store. Cathy marvels at her mom’s modesty, and discovers her successful ad man dad was ghost-written by his young wife for some time when he started out in advertising. Cathy muses on the evolving roles of women and has a great chapter on how easy she thought it would be to work around her infant daughter’s schedule. Cathy’s relatable frustrations with her occassionally obnoxious grown up daughter (as only daughters can be with their moms) mirrors her own interactions with her mother Anna. (Her mom reads the mom parts in the book, too, which is a treat.)

The whole book is so enjoyably surprising, with quiet or sometimes very loud revelations about all manner of things which Cathy needs to get off her chest. Polite Detroit Cathy allows pissed off Cathy to cork off about the ridiculous numbers of styles and sizes of jeans for women. She goes on a funny rant about women’s lingerie and why there’s no sexy, silly equivalent for men. My favorite essay was about downsizing her parents’ house and all of the happy memories that are evoked through their possessions. She has a wonderful essay about her aging father and all the things he taught her and her sisters with his capable hands. And in between trips to visit her parents in Florida she has lunch with a girlfriend who somehow unwittingly but confidently breaks all the BFF rules, leaving Cathy apoplectic by meal’s end. Lots of Cathy’s observations had me laughing and crying in the same paragraph.

I highly recommend this book of essays for many reasons, not the least of which is its funny! Cathy writes thoughtfully and sardonically about motherhood and daughterhood, about treating others with respect and is still rotating her self-effacing gaze from herself to the rest of us and back again.

Wonderful.

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Thank you, Cathy and Anna, for sharing all of your experiences and truths. I laughed. I cried. I have such a lump in my throat missing my own parents and understanding more that I’m not alone in my feeling of loss as I grow older. Moms unite! Daughters unite! Let’s stop being so hard on ourselves. ❤️SWF

review#1

funny, however, I enjoy cross-referencing between humor and current events. I was unable to do that on audible for this book, why?

SO relevant.

Bravo Cathy!! With just the right dose of melancholy, the right dose funny, and the right dose of wise, this title should be required reading for all middle-aged ladies.

Such a wonderful listen

Fans of Cathy Guisewhite will truly appreciate this. It is such a wonderful distraction from the daily madness that surrounds us. It’s wise, witty, funny, sad and endearing. I loved every word.