When I reviewed Jessi Klein’s previous essay collection, YOU’LL GROW OUT OF IT, I said that, for readers, her essays felt like “sitting down for a good gabfest with their funniest girlfriend.” If that’s the case, then I’LL SHOW MYSELF OUT feels like a reunion with the kind of friend who can comfortably pick up a conversation even if it’s been ages since you talked.

In many ways, Klein’s new book does pick up right where her prior collection left off. That one shifted gradually from wryly funny observations on dating to a story about the humbling experience of attending a red carpet premiere just weeks after giving birth. This time around, motherhood is really the star of the show, as Klein fearlessly confronts the absurdities, rewards and indignities of early motherhood.

"I’LL SHOW MYSELF OUT feels like a reunion with the kind of friend who can comfortably pick up a conversation even if it’s been ages since you talked."

Klein uses as her framing theme the archetype of the hero’s journey, as outlined in Joseph Campbell’s THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES. As she points out, no one talks about mothers as heroic figures. But, she contends, maybe we should start. Right from the beginning, she contrasts Campbell’s hero --- who has to be convinced to leave a place of safety to embark on a dangerous journey --- with the no less heroic mother, whose heroism consists of staying and caring for one’s child rather than running away screaming.

If this all sounds pretty heavy, my apologies. It should be underscored that Klein’s essays, although frequently touching on dark topics, are just as funny as those in her first collection. It’s hard not to wince in recognition when she recounts the humiliation of her preschool-aged son’s refusal to use public toilets, or the daily struggle to get him safely buckled into his car seat. The essays often intermingle humor with moments of grace, such as the less-than-idyllic process of watching metamorphosis via an at-home butterfly kit, or a lovely moment (again in a bathroom) in which she draws on her own history to grant her son some comfort and safety.

I’LL SHOW MYSELF OUT is, in some ways, in dialogue with YOU’LL GROW OUT OF IT. Klein acknowledges that one new essay --- on why an occasional glass of wine or shot of tequila makes her a better mother --- is likely to be even more polarizing than the one from her first book, in which she advocates for the use of an epidural during childbirth.

For Klein --- who was around 40 when her son was born and is in her mid-40s in later essays that address, among other things, the experience of parenting during a pandemic --- the failure of her body to immediately “bounce back” after childbirth prompts larger considerations about the effects of aging on women’s self-image. The couple of essays about pop culture feel like outliers, but are nevertheless entertaining; they read a bit like the basis for a stand-up routine.

Klein freely acknowledges her privilege when it comes to topics like hiring a night nurse when her son was a newborn or employing a full-time nanny once he got a little older. The level of support enabled by her class privilege may make her struggles slightly less relatable, but are no less real. And just like Campbell’s heroic narratives, Klein’s essays transform her particular circumstances into reflections with universal appeal.