Cat Marnell

Self-Tanner for the Soul Cat Marnell

From Cat Marnell, author of the New York Times best-selling memoir How to Murder Your Life, an irresistibly candid and magical travelogue of soul-seeking and self-healing

The spring of 2017 should have been the greatest time of Cat Marnell's life. She was 34 and living the New York glamour life downtown, with a thriving career and a best-selling memoir. Instead, it was one of the worst. She'd gone through a protracted and traumatic breakup, nearly run out of money, and, during a month-long binge, "done something horrible" to herself that she couldn't undo.

Her troubles mounting, Marnell makes a radically simple choice: She decides to leave her problems behind. She puts her belongings into storage and uses the last of her book advance to buy a one-way plane ticket to Europe. For the next four months, Marnell is a woman on the move. With nothing but a suitcase (Sammy) and a bag of wigs to her name, and no agenda other than to follow her heart (and maybe the Libertines' Pete Doherty), Marnell embarks on a profound personal journey, from late-night "Wizard Walks" in mysterious cities to almost drowning in a river - all while learning to face down her demons.

Whimsical, infectious, and utterly life-affirming, Self-Tanner for the Soul reminds us all of the life-changing magic of running away.