Synopses & Reviews
When men stop making lecherous catcalls and Spanx get comfortable in your lingerie drawer, when marketers target you for Activia instead of $200 premium denim, when you have to start wearing makeup to get that I'm not wearing any makeup glow and are ma'amed outside the Deep South, it may dawn on you that somehow you have crossed an invisible line: You are not the young, relevant, in-the-mix woman you used to be. But neither are you old, or even what you think of as middle-aged. You are no longer what you were, but not quite sure what you are.
Stephanie Dolgoff calls this stage of a woman's life Formerly, the state of mind and body she herself is in now: Her roaring twenties are behind her, but she's not in hot flash territory, either. My Formerly Hot Life, showcasing Dolgoff's wacky and wise observations about this little-discussed flux time, demonstrates that becoming a Formerly is intensely poignant if you're paying attention, and hilarious even if you're not. From fashion to friendship, beauty to body image, married sex to single searching, mothering to careering (or both), Dolgoff reveals the upside to not being forever 21— even as you watch the things you once thought were so essential to a happy life go the way of the cassette tape. You may be formerly thin, formerly cool, formerly (seemingly) carefree, formerly cutting-edge, but in reading My Formerly Hot Life you are reminded that you are finally more comfortable in your skin (formerly obsessed with your weight), finally following your instincts (formerly ruled by the opinions of others), and finally happy with where you are (formerly focused on the guy or job you thought would take you where you thought you should be). While you may no longer be as close to the media-machine-generated idea of fabulous, you can do many, many more things fabulously.
Wildly entertaining and inspiring, My Formerly Hot Life proves that once you let yourself laugh about that which is passing, life is richer, more fun, and more satisfying. Despite what you're led to believe, growing older most certainly means growing better.
Review
"Remember all those deep and important life transitions going on amongst a group of smart, beautiful women that the last, tepid Sex and the City movie tried — and failed — to capture? Skip the film; Dolgoff’s got it all in her book, and in a far more genuine way....Dolgoff’s style is energetic, funny, highly engaging, and self-aware....Bottom Line: Whether you’re going through the Formerly transition yourself or looking back on it (or catching hints of it down the road), Dolgoff’s book is a wonderful take on the early 40s.” Newsweek.com
Review
"If you’ve ever hiked up your boobs just to remind yourself how they used to look, secretly hoped the wino on the corner would whistle at you like he used to, or recently realized that they are now making elevator music out of your favorite ‘classic’ tunes, you will love this book. It’s pee-in-your-pants funny and it’s all too true!" Jenny McCarthy, author of Belly Laughs and Baby Laughs
Synopsis
Wildly entertaining and inspiring, My Formerly Hot Life offers hilarious observations on getting older in today's society, and proves that growing older most certainly means growing better.
Video
About the Author
Stephanie Dolgoff writes for many magazines, including Self, Health and Parenting, and blogs for More.com, as well as her own popular blog Formerlyhot.com. She has been a contributing editor at Real Simple and editor-at-large at Parenting, the features director at Self, and the executive editor at Glamour. Among other publications, she’s written for The New York Times, the New York Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, Fitness, Parents, Redbook, and Ladies’ Home Journal. Stephanie Dolgoff lives with her husband and twin girls in Manhattan.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Stephanie Dolgoff