How to Murder your Life by Cat Marnell is a memoir of her life so far.
At the age of 15, Cat Marnell unknowingly set out to murder her life. After a privileged yet emotionally-starved childhood in Washington, she became hooked on ADHD medication provided by her psychiatrist father. This led to a dependence on Xanax and other prescription drugs at boarding school, and she experimented with cocaine, ecstasy… whatever came her way. By 26 she was a talented ‘doctor shopper’ who manipulated Upper East Side psychiatrists into giving her never-ending prescriptions; her life had become a twisted merry-go-round of parties and pills at night, and trying to hold down a high profile job at Condé Naste during the day..
Cat comes from a good background but is diagnosed as having ADHD… that is when the problems start. She gets hooked on the medication given to her and it is not long before she is convincing her father to prescribe more and more drugs. Once at boarding school she then gets hooked on any other drugs she can get her hands on. Eventually she is expelled when she becomes pregnant and her life doesn’t seem to get any better from then on.
Eventually she finds herself in New York working in the fashion magazine industry, still hooked on drugs but now also partying and drinking. Over her career she seems to have some very understanding bosses who whilst don’t totally turn a blind eye to her antics or drug taking (they do arrange for her to go into rehab), don’t seem to really make her take responsibility for her actions either.
I will admit that I have had a bit of trouble writing a review on this book and it has taken me a while to decide what I wanted to say. Whilst the parent in me would dearly love to boot the author up the backside for clearly being an idiot for what she has done in her life (not that it really seems to have done her much harm career wise) I can’t actually fault the book or the way it was written.
If I am honest then as far as I am concerned there is nothing to like about Cat Mansell other than her brutal honesty about the things she has done with her life so far. She shines a light on how easy it can be to “shop” for prescription drugs from registering with several doctors to making sure that prescriptions are picked up from different places so as not to arouse suspicion. To some extent the blame for the way her life has turned out should be thrown to her parents who seemed quite content to prescribe her drugs during her childhood if it meant some of her behavioural problems went away rather than talking with their daughter and trying to work things out (her father was a psychiatrist)
There are several instances in the book she refers to events with a caveat of either “more on that later” or “that’s for another time” so I can only assume at some point Cat intends to follow up with a further instalment of her messed up life and if I am honest I would probably read it just to see what happened next.
This book does not come with a happy ending of look at me, look what I did and how I have overcome it all. What it does have is an honest insight to Cat’s life on drugs. It charts the high’s (medicinal and career) and lows without apology. It will make you mad at the chances she has been given and thrown away and the fact that by the end of it she is still taking drugs – despite 2 overdoses and by her own admission she considers herself a functional drug addict who has managed to cut back on the types of drugs she is taking.
After I first read it I only gave it 3 stars as I was angry that Cat did not seem to have really learnt anything but after time away (and a chat with my sister) here I am 2 weeks later changing the review to 4 stars and putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).

This is not the type of book I usually read. I prefer fiction and escapism. However, I read it over a couple of nights and it kept me interested to the end. I did struggle with the mix of privilege and addiction, but then I'm not living in America, I imagine it's not an unusual mix. I didn't find the detail over harrowing, it was pretty much what I expected.

The book is no holds barred and I would have to say that it it takes some guts to lay your life bare for others to pick over. You will probably feel highly annoyed at Cat and her level of selfishness, but on the plus side her self awareness does grow....and let's hope that continues.

I did like the writing, Cat can certainly bring words to life.
To conclude this is a strange review for me, because it isn't my usual genre so is it good for a biography? yes I believe it is.
Recommended to those who love the fly on the wall documentary or a straight talking biography.

A car crash of a read in Moe ways than one. This was not for me.

This was a weird one for me...I have it because netgalley recommended it free in return for a fair review; ordinarily I eschew non-fiction, especially of this ilk. However, after an opening peppered with brand names and focused on such trivia that my finger hovered over the Remove From Device button several times, I actually found the rest of the book pretty compelling. I read it fast, which suggests I was engaged, not with the author (who I found insanely irritating) but with the idea that she could have functioned for so long and with so few consequences.
I will admit I found the writing actually very good - I'd expected it to clank along horribly, because after all this is a book published because of its salacious subject matter, not because of the skill of the author. I found it articulate, even eloquent and well-paced and structured. That said, my interest was largely prurient - like reading celebrity gossip mixed with genuine, chills-inpiring dread at the depths to which the author sank due to her addiction.
That being said, I couldn't put aside my distaste. Not for her journey, which seemed reasonably rooted in reality (I can't be sure I wouldn't have fallen for the same pitfalls in her position) but because while Marnell acknowledges her white privilege, it's teeth-grindingly infuriating to see how easily she escaped any kind of professional or legal consequences purely because she is from a wealthy background, white and attractive. I just don't think you can escape the certainty that had she not had access to expensive private rehab facilities, excellent health insurance, and a job with a prestigious company (all of which she wasted and abused) she would have come into contact with the law at some point. Would a black woman have managed to avoid jail time for what Marnell did? Would any person of colour? Or anyone not cute, white and dressed in head to toe designer clothing? She managed months without paying her rent, seemingly without reprisal or homelessness ever becoming an issue. She managed to manipulate countless doctors into providing prescriptions, and avoided being fired for a staggering lack of professionalism because she was apparently too blonde, too adorable, too appealingly and mischievousy kittenlike to take to task like the rest of us for tardiness, rudeness, drunkenness, etc etc ad infinitum.
All of that made my blood boil at the injustice of it. Even when I have to admit she did suffer (abortions, lonely holidays, bulimia, sexual assault) I just couldn't scrounge up enough sympathy not to feel she repeatedly placed herself in positions to increase those risks.
I also felt that after 20 years of her parents basically ignoring or enabling her, the sudden forgiveness and defence of them in the afterword rang false.
So in summary - I hate that here is a writer who is cashing in on her car crash of a life (without ever having achieved anything first to gain notoriety, mind you - at least Britney and Whitney had talent/fame BEFORE they imploded) whereas many talented writers will never get published - but, perhaps hypocritically, I was much entertained by reading this, and so might you be. Maybe salve your consciences by getting the book for free like I did, and not lining her pockets to pay for more Adderall though...

Wow....what a ride! Cat Marnell spares no detail of her life on a mixture of prescription and class A drugs, all the while with a fascinating insight into the world of fashion magazines. I've rarely read anything that has pulled me in so much.
Good luck with the rest of your life Cat.

I don't think memoirs are for me...I couldn't get through much of this.

Charting Marnell’s life (so far!) and her journey from misunderstood and rather spoilt child to New York fashion editor and drug addict, this is a really compelling and interesting read.
Marnell seems to have everything going for her and yet seems determined to ruin it all, to throw it all away. This would normally put me off, but she is so honest about herself that you just can’t help liking her, and while you want to shake some sense into her, you also want to give her a good meal, some clean clothes and a hug.
At first I found the writing style a little irritating – all the exclamation marks and the, at times, childlike tone, but as I read further into the book it became obvious that this is the author’s authentic voice. She really is overly enthusiastic and dramatic and she couldn’t write any other way.
The degradation, the misery, the utter loneliness that she goes through is sometimes hard to read, but Marnell isn’t looking for sympathy or understanding. This is the story of her life, of what she’s experienced and who she has encountered along the way. And she tells it really well. Not always enjoyable, and often uncomfortable, this is, however, a really important account of what it’s really like to be an addict.
Definitely recommended.

As someone who is in recovery from alcoholism themselves I tend to steer very clear of any memoir involving addiction. I tend to find them depressing. After all, I lived through addiction, I don't need to be reminded of it.
However, I loved this book from the very first sentence! Cat Marnhull has captured the complete insanity and outright misery that being in thrall to your drug of choice but she has also managed to convey her total love of her life and the world of publishing. I never thought I would actually laugh out loud at someone so totally on the brink of destruction, and at the same time want to gather them up and just protect them but that's what I found myself doing with Cat throughout this book. Searingly honest and hilarious I would say this is a must read for anyone, especially if they know someone whose love of a party might be nearing a tipping point.

How to Murder your Life is, without a doubt, my favourite book of 2016. Released in February 2017, this book is the autobiography of Cat Marnell’s life so far.

Wowza. As soon as I saw this on Netgalley I knew I needed it in my life. I absolutely love fashion magazines and just find the whole fashion industry intriguing (and often ridiculous). If you loved The Devil Wears Prada you will adore this real life version. I recently read Inside Vogue by Alexandra Shulman (UK Vogue Editor-in-Chief) and I thought that was juicy! How to Murder your Life is something else entirely; it’s totally off the charts.

The book charts Marnell’s journey from growing up with a dysfunctional family, tricking her psychiatrist father into giving her a ton of prescription drugs. She becomes an (almost) functional drug addict, working her way up to Beauty Editor at Lucky Magazine.

I absolutely flew through this book as it was like living in an alternative universe. My life could not be more different than this and couldn’t believe some of these things actually happen in real life! Not to make light of Marnell’s troubled life, this has everything from psychotic best friends, drug-fuelled celeb parties and eating disorders to weird sex and teen pregnancy.

I found it interesting that despite all the issues her drug use has caused (not including the impact on her health), Marnell continues to use drugs albeit in a much more liberal way.

For me, books are there to experience things that you wouldn’t otherwise; learn from other people’s experiences and mistakes. I am so grateful to Cat Marnell for sharing her story as it took me on a whirlwind adventure I will never forget. It sounds like she’s a lot more settled now and I hope she continues to have a calm but never-boring life.