You're Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility

Finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor

"In this surprisingly upbeat memoir, Annabelle Gurwitch writes about the financial curveballs that can hit you in midlife . . . Somehow, Ms. Gurwitch manages to find humor in these setbacks. Ultimately, this is a story about harnessing resilience and learning how life’s disappointments can teach you about the things that matter most." —Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times

From the New York Times bestselling author of I See You Made an Effort comes a timely and hilarious chronicle of downward mobility, financial and emotional.

With signature "sharp wit" (NPR), Annabelle Gurwitch gives irreverent and empathetic voice to a generation hurtling into their next chapter with no safety net and proves that our no-frills new normal doesn't mean a deficit of humor.

In these essays, Gurwitch embraces homesharing, welcoming a housing-insecure young couple and a bunny rabbit into her home. The mother of a college student in recovery who sheds the gender binary, she relearns to parent, one pronoun at a time. She wades into the dating pool in a Miss Havisham-inspired line of lingerie and flunks the magic of tidying up.

You're Leaving When? is for anybody who thought they had a semblance of security but wound up with a fragile economy and a blankie. Gurwitch offers stories of resilience, adaptability, low-rent redemption, and the kindness of strangers. Even in a muted Zoom.

ANNABELLE GURWITCH is an actress and the author of I See You Made an Effort (a New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist); Wherever You Go, There They Are, You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up (with Jeff Kahn); and Fired! (also a Showtime Comedy Special). Gurwitch was the longtime cohost of Dinner and a Movie on TBS and a regular commen­tator on NPR. She's written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and Hadassah amongst other publications. Her acting credits include Seinfeld, Boston Legal, Dexter, and Melvin Goes to Dinner. A veteran of many lauded and even more misguided theatrical productions, she performs with The Moth Mainstage and at arts centers around the country. Gurwitch's journalism has been recognized with a 2020 The Los Angeles Press Club Award, her work on stage has made "The Top Ten Performances of the Year" in The New York and Los Angeles Times, and Time Magazine featured Gurwitch in one of their annual "10 Ideas That are Changing the World" issues. She lives in Los Angeles and cohosts the Tiny Victories podcast on the Maximum Fun Podcast Network.