Melissa Dahl provides a fascinating (and often hilarious) examination of the underdiscussed feeling of awkwardness. Her practical, penetrating insights reveal that understanding what's 'cringeworthy' can help us understand ourselves better--and create happier lives. --Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and The Four Tendencies

In this deeply researched and frequently hilarious book, Melissa Dahl shows that our capacity for cringing with embarrassment--at our own ineptness or other people's--is no mere psychological oddity. Her surprisingly uplifting message: through understanding awkwardness, we can learn to find more joy in the fundamental absurdity of being human. --Oliver Burkeman, author of The Antidote

Cringeworthy unearths all the reasons we wince, flinch, and recoil, and offers emboldening advice for how to take them on. Awkwardness has never been so delightful. --Bianca Bosker, author of Cork Dork

A stunningly captivating, clever, and comical look at why social discomfort haunts us long beyond our teenage years. This book didn't just help me make sense of my most awkward moments. It liberated me from feeling embarrassed by them. Well, most of them.--Adam Grant, author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg