YOU DIDN'T HEAR THIS FROM ME

How gossip shapes our stories and selves.

McKinney, reporter, novelist, and host of the Normal Gossip podcast, examines the fundamental role of gossip in human connection. As she observes, “We gossip and we tell stories because that is how we each make sense of the world, with ourselves at the center reaching outward trying to connect with others, to prove to ourselves that we are real, that if anything is true, it is us.” She takes an ambitious journey through the landscape of human storytelling, and her exploration spans multiple domains: religious history (“Gossip and religion are braided together in our history as a species, so it makes sense that our belief systems have created rules around how we gossip and when. Maybe that is why the two—gossip and Christianity—are so intertwined for me”), ancient literature, and contemporary culture. Drawing from The Epic of Gilgamesh, she illustrates how even humanity's oldest known written story revolves around intimate conversations and shared secrets between its heroes, demonstrating gossip’s timeless role in storytelling. She references literary giants like Jane Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, and Rachel Cusk alongside commentary on reality TV phenomena such as The Real Housewives and The Bachelor franchises, while also examining celebrity narratives like Britney Spears’ public story. Personal experience enriches McKinney’s perspective, particularly her account of losing hearing in one ear and how this physical limitation has shaped her relationship to information and rumor. While McKinney provides meticulous research and offers some genuine insights in her attempt to elevate gossip to a worthy subject of study, the book’s expansive scope ultimately works against it. What might have been a sharp, incisive essay feels diluted when stretched to book length. The result is a work that, despite some intriguing observations, would have landed with more impact in a more condensed format.

A perceptive, earnestly documented, yet unnecessarily sprawling exploration of gossip.