“Nietfeld’s gifts for capturing the fury of living at the mercy of bad circumstances, for critiquing the hero’s journey even while she tells it, make Acceptance a remarkable memoir.” — The New York Times Book Review A hard-hitting and hilarious memoir of ambition, desperation, and the dark side of grit Growing up in a house filled with dirty feather boas and fearless mice, Emi Nietfeld dreams of escaping to the Ivy League. Emi’s single mom believes in her, but can’t stop hoarding—catapulting Emi into the underworld of troubled teen treatment, foster care, and homelessness. When her shot arrives to trade sleeping in her car for the hallowed halls of an elite college, Emi must decide: How far will she go to market herself as a perfect “overcomer” when her problems are far from over? And what will it cost to maintain that illusion at Harvard and into adulthood?   From journalist, mental health advocate, and software engineer Emi Nietfeld, this searing coming-of-age story is both a chronicle of the American Dream and an indictment of it. Exposing the price of trading a troubled past for the promise of a bright future, Nietfeld explores whether any amount of success can make trauma worth it. With a ribbon of dark humor, Acceptance challenges our ideas of what it means to overcome—and live on your own terms. An Amazon Best Book of August 2022: This memoir is a knock-out—and will not only keep you turning the pages as you root for Emi Nietfeld who didn’t have it easy as a kid, but will change the way you think about the voices we listen to and the voices we don’t, and the paradox of what help is acceptable to ask for. In some ways, it feels so unsatisfyingly trite to explain that Acceptance is about a young brilliant girl who, because of her hoarding, mentally unstable, and manipulative mother, is thrown into psych wards and foster care for her teenage years. Left to deal with eating disorders, cutting, addiction, and homelessness, it's too easy to say that no adult trusts Emi to rise from her trauma, let alone to go to an Ivy League school. But it’s true, and her account of her lone fight—for an education, for her dreams—is gutting and alive. This is one of the best memoirs I’ve read this year. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor One of NPR's Best Books of the Year “A raw, insightful memoir—from childhood neglect to Harvard and Big Tech—tenderly baring the underbelly of what we call ‘success.’” — People “Acceptance is no simple story of transcendence, and instead complicates the narrative of pulling one’s self up by the bootstraps. It is page-turning, raw, and darkly funny.” — BuzzFeed “ Acceptance isn’t a phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes tale, and for precisely this reason it’s a must-read. Instead, the memoir refuses silver linings and serves as a necessary corrective to the gospel of ’grit.’” —NPR “ Acceptance is gripping, fascinating, funny and thought-provoking . . . Nietfeld’s book and her life are extraordinary accomplishments, and she’s wonderful company.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune   “Gripping, inspiring, and darkly humorous.” — Philadelphia Inquirer , "Best New Books of the Month" “If Educated was a book that shook you, you need to pick up Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld . . . an ideal book club read.” —Iowa Public Radio “In breaking from the Cinderella-story convention of social mobility memoirs, Acceptance achieves exceptional candor and beauty.” — The Cleveland Review of Books “A narrative with all the propulsion of a novel . . . Acceptance will draw inevitable comparisons to Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle , for good reason. . . . Acceptance is a gripping, urgent memoir in an era when social mobility feels beset from all sides. Nietfeld recasts the myth of resilience as a veil for society’s failure to empower vulnerable individuals. And in her pursuit of healing, she offers the hope that even in our darkest moments, there is a future—and within it, the ability to be fully present.” —The Southern Review of Books   “The debut of a formidable talent. . . Acceptance feels like this generation’s Prozac Nation .” — Bruce Feiler, New York Times bestselling author “Remarkable.” — Daily Hive’ s 22 Best Books of 2022 "Fierce and uncompromising.” “Nietfeld’s memoir offers an absorbing and clear-eyed view into her dysfunctional childhood—including living with her mother, who was a hoarder; navigating homelessness and foster care; and her own mental health struggles—and how she made her way out (for better or worse) onto the other side to achieve societal ‘success.’” — The Millions “Heart-pounding. . . . Nietfeld’s raw resilience and candor will keep readers enthralled until the very last page. This hits hard.” — Publishers Weekly “[Nietfeld’s] impressive debut is a radical probe into our society’s insistence on resiliency through unthinkable struggles, leading readers to reexamine long-held definitions of success.” — Booklist “