Sinéad Stubbins is a writer, editor and cultural critic from Melbourne. She has written popular TV recaps for Junkee on shows such as The Bachelor, Neighbours and Game of Thrones, and has been on the writing team for The Weekly With Charlie Pickering on ABC for two seasons. She has work in The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, frankie, The Big Issue, New York Magazine and many other publications.
Today, Sinéad Stubbins is on the blog to answer a few questions about her new book, In My Defence, I Have No Defence. Read on!
Sinéad Stubbins
Please tell us about your book, In My Defence, I Have No Defence!
SS: In My Defence, I Have No Defence is a comic memoir about the persistent belief that if you crack the right combination, there is a correct, perfect version of yourself waiting to be unlocked. It’s basically different stories about things going wrong: times I have failed to be better (cool, sophisticated, able to ride a bike, etc.) and pieces about other people being found out as frauds, too. It’s also about shame, being likeable and plagiarising the hit 1997 movie Titanic.
What made you want to write this book?
SS: I’ve always loved writing about those little moments in time where things aren’t going to plan. My favourite stories are small stakes and usually involve unpacking the various ways we perform a version of ourselves for each other. I’m drawn to those icky, humiliating moments that make you cringe in your shower and keep you up at night, so this book might be your worst nightmare!
Why do you think we’re all so compelled to strive for this ‘better version’ of ourselves, yet look down on people who are ‘trying too hard’?
SS: This is a great question! I think any obvious show of effort is the enemy to coolness, which is meant to look effortless and convey a certain ease that uncool people certainly do not have. (I say this as a supremely uncool person, which I take no pride in.) I think many people feel like they’re not ‘enough’ as is and they need to perform a better, more palatable version of themselves in order to be loved. But then you put all of this energy into constructing a personality (a person who reads the ‘right’ books, goes hiking on weekends, is quiet, never says anything nasty, etc.) that might not even be your true personality! I owe a lot to my psychologist, is what I’m saying.
Who did you write this book for? Who do you wish would read it?
SS: I really wrote this book for myself, but I hope anyone who enjoys humorous essays will give it a go. It was important to me that In My Defence wasn’t just a self-deprecating, confessional memoir that doesn’t really go anywhere – I wanted to make sure that the stories were anchored to a theme and that the writing actually holds up. I hope the writing holds up, anyway. (Alternatively: I hope people who just need a funny, low-stakes book to read in the bath pick it up too.)
‘It was important to me that In My Defence wasn’t just a self-deprecating, confessional memoir that doesn’t really go anywhere – I wanted to make sure that the stories were anchored to a theme and that the writing actually holds up.’
Who do you most admire in the writing world?
SS: Nora Ephron. I love the way she so unapologetically wrote about the things that bothered her and her friends – like the maintenance involved in dying your hair, falling in love with pieces of New York real estate, tracking down a specific pastry that she tasted 30 years ago and was never able to find again – without worrying if it was self indulgent or trite. Or maybe she did worry, and she wrote those stories anyway. She was so funny and had an amazing ability to pull universal truths from personal moments.
What is the last book you read and loved?
SS: Hold Your Fire by Chloe Wilson. It was so darkly funny and I enjoyed it so much that I became a bit jealous! I have recommended it to many people since.
What do you hope readers will discover in In My Defence, I Have No Defence?
SS: My ultimate goal for this book is to have someone read it on the tram and have to jam their fist in their mouth because they are laughing so much. Is that narcissistic? Maybe. I hope the book can be a delight and comfort for people who have had a bad day, had a fight with their partner or are trying to distract themselves from sending a text that could ruin their lives. That’s what my favourite funny books are like.
And finally, what’s up next for you?
SS: I am going to write another book with Affirm Press, so that is the next great adventure.
Thanks Sinéad!
—In My Defence, I Have No Defence by Sinéad Stubbins (Affirm Press) is out now.
In My Defence, I Have No Defence
Catastrophes in pursuing perfection
Sinéad Stubbins has always known that there was a better version of herself lying just outside of her grasp. That if she listened to the right song or won the right (any) award or knew about whisky or followed the right Instagram psychologist or drank kombucha, ever, or enacted the correct 70-step Korean skincare regime, she would become her ‘best self’.
In My Defence, I Have No Defence raises the white flag on trying to live up to impossible standards. Wild and funny and wickedly relatable, it is one woman’s reckoning with her...
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