Ruth Whippman

Author | Journalist | Filmmaker

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Author Ruth Whippman Official Blog.

First chapter of America the Anxious excerpted on VOX.com

“I’m at the gynecologist for my Pap smear, feet in stirrups, idly wondering what Emily Post might have suggested as appropriate small talk for those moments when the person you are speaking to will be replying to your vagina. We’ve been living in America for a few months now, having moved here from London for my husband’s job.

I needn’t have worried — the doctor is doing all the talking. Delving deep with her speculum, she delves deeper into matters of the heart. Apparently, she is reading Gretchen Rubin’s best-seller Happier at Home and finding it very instructive. I’ve read that book too and am suddenly overcome with crippling self-consciousness. I hope desperately that my gynecologist is not currently reading the part about how in order to achieve true happiness, it is advisable to give total mental focus to how everything around you smells…..”

After 4 years of work, today is US publication day for America the Anxious, and VOX.com have run an edited version of the first chapter. Read the rest here.

And if this makes you want to order the book, you can do so here, or buy it in shops today! And don’t forget to tell your friends!