Published in 2019
288 pages
Elizabeth Jean Carroll is an American journalist and advice columnist. Her “Ask E. Jean” column has appeared in Elle magazine since 1993, and was ranked one of the five best magazine columns.
What is this book about?
A darkly funny and very personal attempt to answer the question by America’s longest running advice columnist.
When E. Jean Carroll—possibly the liveliest woman in the world and author of Ask E. Jean in Elle magazine — realized that her eight million readers and question-writers all seemed to have one thing in common—problems caused by men—she hit the road. Criss-crossing the country with her blue-haired poodle Lewis Carroll, E. Jean stopped in every town named after a woman between Eden, Vermont and Tallulah, Louisiana to ask women the crucial question: What Do We Need Men For?
E. Jean gave her rollicking road trip a sly, stylish turn when she deepened the story, creating a list called “The Most Hideous Men of My Life,” and began to reflect on her own sometimes very dark history with the opposite sex. What advice would she have given to her past selves—as Miss Cheerleader USA and Miss Indiana University? Or as the fearless journalist, television host and eventual advice columnist she became? E. Jean intertwines the stories of the outspoken people she meets on her road trip with her own history of bad behavior (from mafia bosses, media titans, boyfriends, husbands, a serial killer, and others) creating a decidedly dark yet hopeful, hilarious and thrilling narrative.
