The Free Press
Shop Our Limited Edition America at 250 Hats!
ForumNewslettersSign InSubscribe
Say It with Me Now: Open Marriages Never Work
All Lindy West proves in her new memoir, ‘Adult Braces,’ is that she loves being treated like a child by the man she was supposed to grow old with—and the woman who has taken her place in his bed.
By Kat Rosenfield
03.10.26 — Culture and Ideas
Lindy West now insists that her desire for monogamy is simply a form of false consciousness. (De Agostini via Getty Images)
--:--
--:--
Upgrade to Listen
Produced by ElevenLabs using AI narration
321
399
READ IN APP

“If you think I have been brainwashed and I am secretly miserable, I simply do not know what to tell you.”

So proclaims the final chapter of Adult Braces, a new memoir by Lindy West that is half-travelogue, half–polyamory memoir, and 100 percent privilege-disclaiming self-deprecation of the doth-protest-too-much variety. Perhaps you recall the moment in Girls where Lena Dunham snaps, “No one could ever hate me as much as I hate myself, okay? So any mean thing someone’s gonna think of to say about me, I’ve already said to me, about me, probably within the last half hour.”

Continue Reading The Free Press
To support our journalism, and unlock all of our investigative stories and provocative commentary about the world as it actually is, subscribe below.
Annual
$8.33/month
Billed as $100 yearly
Save $20!
Monthly
$10/month
Billed as $10 monthly
Already have an account?
Sign In
To read this article, sign in or subscribe
Kat Rosenfield
Culture writer, novelist, and podcaster. On Twitter at @katrosenfield.
Tags:
Ideas
Love & Relationships
Love
marriage
Comments
Comments are closed. The conversation isn’t. Keep it going in The Free Press Forum.
Join the conversation
Share your thoughts and connect with other readers by becoming a paid subscriber!
Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

No posts

For Free People.
LatestSearchAboutCareersForumShopPodcastsVideoEvents
Download the app
Download on the Google Play Store
©2026 The Free Press. All Rights Reserved.Powered by Substack.
Privacy∙Terms∙Collection notice