Is This Ok? - by Harriet Gibsone

About the Book

An extraordinarily honest, outrageously funny account of growing up as a millennial woman in the era of the early internet - from bad MSN boyfriends, to the tyranny of Instagram mumfluencers.

Book Synopsis

'Persistently funny, ill-advisedly honest and deadly accurate' - Caitlin Moran
'This book is a delight - very real and very entertaining' - Bob Mortimer

Music journalist and self-professed creep, Harriet Gibsone, lives in fear of her internet searches being leaked. Is This OK? is an outrageously funny and painfully honest account of trying to find connection in the age of the internet - from bad MSN boyfriends, to the tyranny of Instagram mumfluencers.

Harriet spent much of her young life feeding neuroses and insecurities with obsessive internet searching (including compulsive googling of exes, prospective partners, and their exes), and indulging in whirlwind 'parasocial relationships' (translation: one-sided affairs with celebrities she has never met).

Suddenly, with a diagnosis of early menopause in her late twenties, her relationship with the internet takes a darker turn, as her online addictions are thrown into sharp relief by the realities of illness and motherhood.

'Very funny and deeply moving' - Sara Pascoe

'Hilarious and brutal! I could not put it down' - Lou Sanders

Review Quotes

"Laugh-out-loud-on-the-train funny . . . swings between silliness and profundity . . . This is a book to hold on to and one to share, a warning and a map created by a watchful girl, telling others what may lie ahead" --Maeve Higgins, Guardian

"This book is a delight - very real and very entertaining." --Bob Mortimer

"Gloriously unfiltered, hilariously unhinged and utterly unlike anything else you'll read this year. Harriet's incredibly moving memoir made me laugh out loud, cringe, reminiscence and think deeply. What a wonderful introduction to a truly singular comedic voice; I remain in awe!" --Yomi Adegoke

"Persistently funny, ill-advisedly honest and deadly accurate . . . My mind is blown" --Caitlin Moran, author of More Than a Woman

"A hugely enjoyable read . . . [a] delight of a memoir" --Otegha Uwagba, The Times

"Very funny and deeply moving." --Sara Pascoe

"Hilarious and brutal! I could not put it down" --Lou Sanders

"Brutally honest but brilliantly funny and poignant too . . . Utterly relatable" --Glamour

"A singular and truly funny voice" --Jamie Demitriou

"Deeply intense, and insane (in a great way)." --Robert Popper, creator of Friday Night Dinner

"Written with humour and intelligence" --Stylist

"A raw and funny memoir exploring mental health, illness and motherhood against the backdrop of obsessive internet and social media activity." --Huffington Post

"Very funny and moving" --Evening Standard

"Devastating and funny as f*ck. I can't remember when I was last so struck by a voice . . . Harriet Gibsone is a SPECTACULAR writer" --Terri White

"Just read this from its giggly heights to its mortifying depths . . . I feel like I've been through something. Something really worth going through." --Frank Cottrell-Boyce

"Eye-wateringly honest and all-too-relatable . . . funny and wise" --Observer

About the Author

Harriet Gibsone began her career as a runner for MTV, before becoming a music journalist in the 00s, writing for publications such as Q, NME, Time Out and Nylon. She spent eight years as a Guardian staff writer and editor and now has a column for its weekend magazine. Is This OK? is her first book.