You Didn't Hear This From Me

“Gossip is the only cultural tradition I care about, and Kelsey McKinney has written its Bible” – Samantha Irby, #1 NYT bestselling author

A delightfully insightful exploration of our obsession with gossip that weaves together journalism, cultural criticism, and memoir, from the host of the massively popular Normal Gossip podcast.

Can you keep a secret?  It’s harder than it seems – after all, it’s only human to thirst after the juicy updates, jaw-dropping stories, and idle chatter that we typically collect over drinks with friends. No one knows this better than Kelsey McKinney, who has always loved gossip wholeheartedly, with abandon, and sometimes to her own detriment. But the more time she spent collecting and sharing and thinking about stories as the host of the blockbuster Normal Gossip podcast, the more her concept of gossip began to expand.

In YOU DIDN’T HEAR THIS FROM ME, McKinney explores the murkiness of everyday storytelling. Why do we think we’re entitled to every detail of a celebrity’s personal life? Why is gossip considered a sin and how can we use gossip for good? And how do we even define “gossip,” anyway? But as she dishes on the art of eavesdropping and dives deep into how pop culture has changed the way we look at hearsay, McKinney also hopes to capture the heart of gossiping: how enchanting and fun it can be to lean over and whisper something a little salacious into your friend’s ear. With wit and honesty, McKinney unmasks what we’re actually searching for when we demand to know the truth – and how much the truth really matters in the first place.

• “Gossip is the only cultural tradition I care about, and Kelsey McKinney has written its Bible. I cannot wait to gossip about this book with everyone I know for the rest of my life. KELSEY IS THE REAL GOSSIP GIRL XOXO”

  Samantha Irby, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wow, No Thank You. and Quietly Hostile.

• “A beautiful, expansive ode to the joy of information exchange. An ode that, like the practice of gossip itself, can be all at once inviting, tender, enlivening, and rich with humor, complexity, and an abundance of joys.”

  Hanif Abdurraqib, New York Times bestselling author of There's Always This Year

• “Come for Kelsey McKinney’s alluring voice, stay for her brilliant insights about words, secrets, gender, shame, pop culture, and technology. McKinney is not only our generation’s most beloved raconteuse, she is a rigorous and deeply thoughtful writer who can quote Emily Dickinson and Doja Cat on the same page and make a reader feel both delighted and challenged to come along for the ride. You Didn't Hear This From Me is cogent and sharp, and I will be whispering around town about it for a long time.”

  Amanda Montell, New York Times bestselling author of The Age of Magical Overthinking

• “YOU DIDN’T HEAR THIS FROM ME cements Kelsey McKinney’s status as one of the greatest storytellers of our time. She dishes out secrets, tidbits, fables, and epics with the wisdom of an edler and the zeal of someone who was there when it all went down.* Although McKinney grew up believing that gossip was a sin, she reveals how gossip may also bea form of prayer – reminding us of our imperfect humanity and helping us search for the truth. This book sparkles from start to finish and ends with a blind item so juicy you’ll need to put it down and text your best friend.

  *(If anyone could have teleported to 2100 B.C.E. to ask Gilgamesh if he really smooched his best bro, it would be Kelsey. And conversely, if Kelsey were born around 2100 B.C.E., she would have absolutely inscribed gossip in tablets that people would still be fighting over today—this is her impact.)"

  Sabrina Imbler, award-winning author of How Far the Light Reaches

• "I tore through this like I was sprinting for gold at the Olympic games. I can't remember the last time I read a collection that made me wonder, deeply, about the bonds of friendship, social sciences, and the Real Housewives all in the span of a single page. True dynamite when it comes to examining the ways we yearn to yap while also remaining funny as hell; a remarkably potent combination. Nobody is cooler right now than Kelsey McKinney. This book stuns."

  Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things

• “I devoured this book like it was a series of 4-minute voice memos about someone Kelsey and I vaguely know. Her meditations gossip -- sometimes a powerful force for good, sometimes a sign of a diseased culture -- are, like the best gossip, so fun. RIP to the man killed by a walnut.”

  Blythe Roberson, bestselling author of America the Beautiful? and How to Date Men When You Hate Men

• PRAISE FOR GOD SPARE THE GIRLS

  “[A] tender, aching debut . . . where faith and betrayal are intertwined.”

  Elle

• “McKinney is a strong and compelling storyteller and has crafted a captivating small town world full of gossip and intrigue. God Spare the Girls beautifully explores the challenges of young womanhood in the context of a religion that has its own very strict ideas about what it means to be a good daughter, sister, and wife."

  Associated Press

• "Kelsey McKinney’s debut is a timely exploration of the moral contradictions of contemporary Evangelical Christianity. But the accomplishment of this canny novel is in positing coming of age itself as a loss of faith—not only in the church, but in our parents, our family, and the world as we thought we understood it."

  Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind and Rich and Pretty

• "Every family has its secrets. . . . God Spare the Girls is an exploration of individuality, family, religion, community, and how when one family secret is revealed, many more follow."

  Oprah Daily, 33 of the Best Beach Reads to Help You Escape