Approval Junkie: My Heartfelt (and Occasionally Inappropriate) Quest to Please Just About Everyone, and Ultimately Myself

Faith Salie of NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! and CBS News Sunday Morning has done it all in the name of validation. Whether it’s trying to impress her parents with a perfect GPA, embarking on a spiritual retreat in the hopes of saving her toxic marriage, or maintaining the BMI of a flapper with a touch of dysentery, Salie is the ultimate approval seeker-an approval junkie, if you will.

With thoughtful irreverence, Salie reflects on why it is she tries so hard to please others, and especially herself, by highlighting a phenomenon that many people-especially women-experience at home and in the workplace. Equal parts laugh-out-loud funny and poignant, Approval Junkie is one woman’s journey to the realization that seeking approval from others is more than just getting them to like you-it’s challenging yourself to achieve, and survive, more than you ever thought you could.