People You Follow
Singer-songwriter Hayley Gene Penner tells all in this harrowingly honest memoir. Hayley Gene's memoir takes a brutally honest yet humorous look at the dark, intimate truths we spend our lives running from and the hidden side of the music industry. Like a map of beautiful mistakes, Hayley’s stories of questionable sexual encounters, artistic aspirations, and emotional abuse trace her coming of age. Hayley explores all her relationships — from her childhood as the daughter of a celebrity, to the destructive and coercive relationship with her boss, to her encounter with the actor we all know but who mustn’t be named — and brings them together in a series of sharp, touching vignettes. People You Follow straddles the delicate boundary between ethical and unethical behaviour, self-protection and self-destruction, power and weakness, giddiness and despair.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In Hayley Gene Penner’s searing memoir, the singer-songwriter dissects every shocking, regrettable, heartbreaking, and occasionally hilarious experience she’s had with men. From the emotionally and physically abusive relationship with her mentor and songwriting partner to the toxic drama with her first real boyfriend, People You Follow reads like a wildly dramatic, impeccably witty movie script. (It even has a celebrity lover too famous to be named.) But what’s even more amazing is that as Penner takes us on this anxiety-ridden tour of her worst memories, we get to see her grow and evolve as a person. As she gains confidence and perspective throughout her romantic journeys, we couldn’t help feeling that by joining her on the ride, a little bit of that growth rubbed off on us too.
Advanced praise for PEOPLE YOU FOLLOW:
“Hayley’s book is a fucked up Alice in Wonderland journey down the rabbit hole of LA’s most subtly toxic industry, and it’s also funny. brilliant, coy, playful and wise. I feel so lucky that Hayley is here to express how hard dating in Hollywood is for the bunch of us, and I’m also glad that young women can read about her emotional pratfalls and save themselves the same pain as they work to become artists as skilled as she is.”
“Hayley’s journey to find self-love is both heartbreaking and humorous. I recognized my own younger self and how we, as women, struggle to find our value through the eyes of others. While Hayley’s story may be more dramatic than others, we are rooting for her as she finds herself and the power of ‘no.’”
“This is Hayley in book form. So perfectly written, with her humor giving a light to situations that don’t always have one. Beautifully written words for a good laugh and the occasional necessary cry.”
“I’ve known Hayley for years now, as a songwriter, a friend, and a mentor. Her writing, like her, is profound, authentic, and her words have the ability to make you cry profusely in 3 minutes. This book spoke to me as a young woman, lost in a sea of sketchy men, trying to find my own identity. A good songwriter is someone who makes the listener feel like the words were stolen right out of their mouth, and Hayley has that same quality as an author. At times I felt like I was reading my own journal. This book left me feeling colorful, excited, empowered, completely vulnerable, a little heartbroken, and incredibly inspired. Hayley is so deeply connected to her emotions, and her ability to write her sometimes painful memories with wit, strength, intelligence, pure honesty, and flat out laugh-out-loud humor is such a special, rare thing. I related, I laughed HARD, I felt sexy, I gasped, I got angry, I cried... all in the one night it took me to read it. After I send this quote to Hayley I’m gonna reread it again.”
“Start with a first-time author, mainly a songwriter: ‘Will you read my book?’ ‘Sure,’ I said, dreading it... I am annoyed by how good this book is. And how it feels original and hopeful and from such a specific voice. Here’s the big magic trick in Hayley’s writing: this memoir masquerades as a comedic take on a young woman discovering and defining her sexuality. You are so distracted by the breezy comedy of the insane true-life stories that you don’t see the gut punches coming. That’s when you realize you’ve somehow landed in the middle of Hayley’s actual life-altering journey; being a young woman dropped, unprotected, into the very, very male world of songwriting.”
“Reading Hayley Gene Penner’s memoir felt like I was with my funniest, naughtiest friend, who came over to drink tequila and tell me secret stories. Each cautionary tale is full of dark humor, desire, and sexy sex in the most vulnerable and authentic way. I loved every minute.”