Everything to Everyone - by Kara Baskin (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A Boston Globe journalist reframes the pressures of midlife and maps a more fulfilling way forward for Gen X and Millennial women.

When Kara Baskin found herself in the midst of losing her mom while juggling full-time work and caring for young kids, she sought out a book that would put her experience--which hit like a cocktail of overwhelm, muddled feminism, and bitters--into words. She didn't find what she wanted, but on soccer sidelines and on text threads, simmering resentment poured forth. A search for validation did, too.

So Kara started asking questions: What do we owe ourselves at midlife? How can we field all of this grief, stress, and upheaval and still, you know, have fun?

The answers became this book. Each chapter of Everything to Everyone unpacks a different role women play--from adult daughter of aging parents, to operations executive, to diligent professional, to EQ-translator. Mixing advice from experts with stories from women who've achieved balance, this is the roadmap for the ordinary person's midlife, exploring how to untangle ourselves from the tyrannical thrum of shoulds.

Everything to Everyone isn't a call to burn it all down; it's a warm, witty guide to know what to put down and when--and an invitation to appreciate what we've built, on our own terms.

Review Quotes

"Everything to Everyone is the warm, funny, deeply validating midlife book so many women need. Kara Baskin captures the overwhelm and emotional weight of this stage of life with clarity and compassion, while pushing back against the pressure to constantly fix or reinvent ourselves. It reminds us that sometimes small shifts and better balance are more than enough."--Eve Rodsky, JD, Best-Selling Author of Fair Play and Founder of the Fair Play Policy Institute

"Sandwich generation? More like triple-decker club sandwich for most of us caregivers these days. Everything to Everyone has the best resources and strategies I've ever found, but its magic is in its humor and solidarity. Kara somehow rewired my brain to turn overwhelm into gratitude."--Lauren Smith Brody, author and CEO of The Fifth Trimester, and co-founder Chamber of Mothers

"We live in a culture that specializes in making people feel unseen through productivity demands, influencer highlight reels, and a culture of comparison. Baskin is the antidote. She brings warmth, humor, and clear-eyed optimism to the messy, meaningful work of navigating midlife. She will make you feel seen and empowered. Read it and pass it on."
--Jennifer Wallace, New York Times bestselling author of Never Enough

About the Author

Kara Baskin is a journalist based in Boston who writes about parenting and culture for The Boston Globe, and is a contributing editor at Boston magazine. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Architectural Digest, Better Homes & Gardens, Bon Appetit, Elle, Roads & Kingdoms, Serious Eats, Time, Women's Health, Washingtonian, and more. Her humor columns for McSweeney's are among the site's most-read of all time.