Happy to Help - by Amy Wilson

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A Brit&Co Most Anticipated Books of 2025

Amy Wilson, co-host of the award-winning podcast What Fresh Hell, takes a funny and insightful look at how women are conditioned to be "happy to help"--and what happens when things don't go that way.

Amy Wilson has always been an ultimate helper. As a big sister, Girl Scout, faithful reader of teen magazines, personal assistant, sitcom sidekick, and, finally, mother of three, Amy believed it was her destiny to be a people pleaser. She learned to put others first, to do what she was told, to finish what she started, and to look like she had everything under control, even when she very much did not.

Along the way, Amy started to wonder why doing it all had been her job. Still, when she tried to hand over some of her to-dos, no one was particularly interested in taking them. And when she asked for help, in return, she got advice: have a sense of humor, quit nagging, and stop trying to be perfect.

Amy dutifully took on these goals--with varying degrees of failure--until the day she started to question if something else needed to be fixed besides herself.

Hilariously relatable, Happy to Help is a collection of essays about how you can be the one everyone else depends on and still be struggling--how you can be "happy to help," even when, for your own sake, you shouldn't.

Review Quotes

"For all the women who do too much, who raise their hand to volunteer when they really would rather not, who feel the need to make sure everyone is happy, and everything is running smoothly, Wilson gets it. Packed with appeal for women of all generations and life stages . . . the book is part memoir, part survival guide for recovering people pleasers."
--Booklist

"In this honest, insightful, and often hilarious account, Amy Wilson explores her experience and frustrations as a people-pleaser--her story will resonate with anyone who has said, "Happy to help!" one too many times. I couldn't put it down."
--Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

"Wilson's refreshing and hilarious essays illustrate the ridiculous nature of the advice meant to fix women and the unfair emotional labor expectations we place on women. Happy to Help offers a new narrative that inspires women to hold true boundaries and value their time as diamonds. A must-read!"
--Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play

"This book is a gift to women everywhere. Through candid storytelling and incisive analysis, Amy Willson illuminates the pervasive yet often invisible pressures that women encounter in their pursuit of excellence. Happy to Help is . . . a beacon of hope . . . with the gift of a trusted, smart, and funny guide to help along the way."
--Jennifer Wallace, author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic--and What We Can Do About It

"My fellow type-A souls, Amy Wilson understands us. It's time to put down all we've been carrying, pick up this funny, all-too-relatable memoir, and rejoice in the empathy of a kindred spirit. Let someone else run the world today."
--Mary Laura Philpott, author of I Miss You When I Blink

"Funny, wise, and delightful--and smart and reassuring--Happy to Help will have you caught between laughing and nodding along, and maybe dropping a few balls you've been keeping in the air to give you time to read one more page."
--KJ Dell'Antonia, author of The Chicken Sisters and How to be a Happier Parent

"Amy Wilson's writing strikes an insightful balance between lighthearted and soul-searching, reassuring us that we're not alone in wondering where all the grownups have gone, leaving us-us --to make The Big Decisions. As emboldening as it is endearing, Happy to Help will have readers questioning, in the best possible way, their roles as mothers and as partners and as people in the world."
--Rebecca N. Thompson, MD, author of Held Together: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love

"Wilson imbues the stories with plenty of heart. [Readers] will appreciate this soulful take on charting one's own path."
--Publishers Weekly

"This engaging collection is reminiscent of Erma Bombeck's essays on family life. Recommended for women's studies collections and discussion groups."
--Library Journal

"An engaging and hilarious combination of memoir and analysis with compelling storytelling and an intimate and candid voice. Reading Amy Wilson feels like a conversation with a friend."
--Pittsburg Post-Gazette

About the Author

Amy Wilson is the author of the memoir When Did I Get Like This? and the co-host of What Fresh Hell, a Webby-honored podcast. Amy is also an actor who has appeared on Broadway, as a series regular on TV sitcoms, and in films. She lives with her family in New York City.