I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself cover art

I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself

One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself

By: Glynnis MacNicol
Narrated by: Glynnis MacNicol
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.99

Buy Now for $21.99

About this listen

 One of TIME's 100 Must-Reads of 2024

'A delight' The New York Times
'Delicious' Vogue
'Superb' Time
'Joyful, bold and liberating' Emma Gannon

Come to Paris, August 2021, when the City of Lights was still empty of tourists and a thirst for long-overdue pleasure gripped those who wandered its streets.

After New York City emptied out in March 2020, Glynnis MacNicol, aged forty-six, unmarried with no children, spent sixteen months alone in her tiny Manhattan apartment. The isolation was punishing. A year without touch. Women are warned of invisibility as they age, but this was an extreme loneliness no one can prepare you for. When the opportunity to sublet a friend's apartment in Paris arose, MacNicol jumped on it. Leaving felt less like a risk than a necessity.

What follows is a decadent, joyful, unexpected journey into one woman's pursuit of radical enjoyment.

The weeks in Paris are filled with friendship and food and sex. There is dancing on the Seine; a plethora of gooey cheese; midnight bike rides through empty Paris; handsome men; afternoons wandering through the empty Louvre; nighttime swimming in the ocean off a French island. And yes, plenty of nudity.

In the spirit of Nora Ephron and Deborah Levy (think Colette . . . if she'd had access to dating apps), I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself is an intimate, insightful, powerful, and endlessly pleasurable memoir of an intensely lived experience whose meaning and insight expand far beyond the personal narrative. MacNicol is determined to document the beauty, excess, and triumph of a life that does not require permission.

The pursuit of enjoyment is a political act, both a right and a responsibility. Enjoying yourself-as you are-is not something the world tells you is possible, but it is.

Here's the proof.©2024 Glynnis MacNicol (P)2025 Bonnier Books UK Europe France Gender Studies Social Sciences Travel Writing & Commentary New York
All stars
Most relevant
Misleading title and synopsis with way too much focus on new york, on justifying women’s behaviour and on attempting to teach women history. Very little enjoying one’s self. Disappointing.

Misleading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Being 48 myself, I was hoping for some light and fun inspiration for this period of life, but I didn't find it in this book. It was a hard listen with just a few moments of relatability for me. I kept drifting off into other thoughts and when I returned the narrator was still waffling on about the same topic as though no time had passed at all.

The feminist theme was strong, but as a listening topic it doesn't greatly interest me. The book kept losing me the deeper she fell into finding more 'great heroines' in Paris from days gone by. I also struggled to maintain interest when the author made chapters out of things that could have been described in lines.

The narrator relayed a story of watching a fringe movie at a cinema in New York. She spoke about the deliciousness of the fact it didn't really have a story and it was just beautiful watching the cinematography and characters live life. Two others in the same show commented 'Can you believe 1.5 hours has already passed and there's STILL another hour to go?!!' This book felt like that for me unfortunately.

I hope there are others who will positively balance out this review and find this story telling style enjoyable and relatable.

Not what I was expecting or hoping for.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Awful monotone narration and so slow to get going. I couldn’t finish it. Actually barely got few the first chapters.

Monotone voice

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Worth it! Shows a different side of the female psyche. Totally relatable! Anyway, I am off to Paris now… Au Revoir!

A new take that’s more relatable than I expected

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
… just super boring read by someone with a boring voice. Didn’t get past the American embassy.

Very annoying person reading this and boring as

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.