AMBITION MONSTER

A personal look at the toxic underbelly of a successful corporate career.

Romolini is the host of the Everything Is Fine podcast and author of Weird in a World That's Not: A Career Guide for Misfits, F*ckups, and Failures. In this debut memoir, she guides readers through the dark alleyways of corporate life, confronting the problems of viewing self-worth through the lens of a career. Born to teenage parents in 1973, the author experienced a difficult childhood; in adulthood, insecurity—both emotional and financial—drove an ambition that led to toxicity in various areas of her life. “Inside me,” she writes, “is a hungry, terrified, security-craving goblin in the presence of whom I feel powerless; an ambitious monster who wants it all....I’m hard-charging toward a life I think I want, in a race to make something of myself, afraid that if I slow down even for a second, I might never be able to start up again.” Looking back, Romolini examines her relationship to work as something of an addiction to external validation. “I believed a career was the only thing I could count on, the thing that would save me from the unreliable parts of life, what would save me from myself,” she writes. This isn’t a book for readers seeking to critically analyze the impact of toxic hustle culture and the changing-work narrative that continues to be redefined. It’s an intimate story for those who wish to learn more about Romolini’s life and feel a sense of comradery with a fellow burnt-out professional forced to pull back for their health. “It took me years,” she writes, “to discover there’s no dream job to chase, no have-it-all fairy tale, no happy ending in which to escape.”

A clear picture of a life yearning for a specific sense of accomplishment forever out of reach.