Best of 2022

This Is Not A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch

The funny feel-good book about finding the thing you love for fans of Bonnie Garmus & Caitlin Moran, shortlisted for the ACT Notable Book Awards 2023

By: Tabitha Carvan

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Paperback | 2 March 2022

At a Glance

Paperback
288 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2.3 x 21.1 x 15.4

Paperback

RRP $35.99

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If you feel that sense that there is something missing from your life, some gap between who you are on the inside and who you are on the outside - then this is the book for you.

This is, as the title says, not actually a book about Benedict Cumberbatch.

In fact, it's a book about women and what we love, about what happens to women's passions after we leave adolescence and how the space for joy in our lives is squeezed ever smaller as we age, and why. More importantly, it's about what happens if you subvert that narrative and simply love something like you used to.

Drawing upon her personal experience of unexpectedly falling for the British actor Benedict Cumberbatch while stuck at home with two young children, Carvan challenges the reader to stop instinctively resisting the possibility of experiencing pleasure. Hers is clarion rallying cry: find your thing, whatever it may be, and love it like your life depends on it.

Funny, intelligent, transporting and liberating, this book is a total joy.

About the Author

Tabitha Carvan is a science writer for the Australian National University and a freelance features writer on the side, focusing on issues of identity, family and pop culture. Her writing has appeared in over a dozen different publications from Crikey to Junkee; Overland to Offbeat Home; Popula to MamaMia. She lives in Canberra.

Industry Reviews

'Witty, erudite and fierce in its message - that women should seek joy and find fun. Happily, this book provides both in abundance. I loved it.'
Jacqueline Maley

'You know when you bite into a chocolate, and unexpectedly discover it's filled with delectable cherry kirsch that explodes into your mouth and oozes everywhere? That's this book. Original, highly entertaining, fast-paced, personal read that contains unexpected revelations at every corner. It's funny, it's smart, it's compelling. But most of all, it's a battle cry: sit up, pay attention and follow your heart and find joy. After all, our time on this earth is short. C'mon. The clock is ticking.'
Ginger Gorman

'Intimate, self-deprecating ... like an Australian Caitlin Moran or Dolly Alderton ... an easy, lighthearted read about serious subject matter: feminism, passion, relationships and creativity, and owning the strength of the passions felt in childhood and adolescence.'
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