‘I’ve Tried Being Nice: Essays’

New York Times best-selling author Ann Leary offers a literary feast of humor and wisdom told from the perspective of a recovering people pleaser.

Having arrived at a certain age (her prime), Ann Leary casts a wry backward glance at a life spent trying — and often failing — to be nice. With wit and surprising candor, Leary recounts the bedlam of bat home invasions, an obsession with online personality tests, and the mortification of taking ballroom dance lessons with her actor husband. She describes hilarious red-carpet fiascos and other observations from the sidelines of fame, while also touching upon her more poignant struggles with alcoholism, her love for her family, her dogs and so much more. 

Ann Leary is the New York Times best-selling author of a memoir and four novels, including The Good House. Her work has been translated into 18 languages, and she has written for the New York Times, Ploughshares, NPR, Redbook, and Real Simple, among other publications. Her essay “Rallying to Keep the Game Alive” was adapted as a motion picture starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline. She lives with her husband in New York. Visit her online at AnnLeary.com.