# Catonsville native's book blends satire and self-reflection

> Maeve Dunigan's new essay collection mixes humor with real life to explore how we perform ourselves online and offline.
- Title: Catonsville native's book blends satire and self-reflection
- Summary: Maeve Dunigan's new essay collection mixes humor with real life to explore how we perform ourselves online and offline. The book shows how we try to seem…
- Keywords: maeve dunigan, read this to look cool, catonsville, satire, self-reflection, new york, new yorker, essay collection, college, tinder, glee, one direction
- Source: The Banner — https://thebanner.com/culture/books/maeve-dunigan-read-this-to-look-cool-book-RQXERASWF5CGPL2ATX22KWGKLU
- Author: Cayla Harris
- Published: 2026-09-21T09:30:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: maeve dunigan, read this to look cool, catonsville, satire, self-reflection, new york, new yorker, essay collection, college, tinder, glee, one direction
## Satire and self-reflection
Maeve Dunigan, a Catonsville native, writes essays about her teenage years and early adulthood.

> I once got so high at a Hozier concert that I convinced myself Hozier was basically an ancient deity who was going to kill me.
## Book title origin
Dunigan chose the title 'Read This to Look Cool' to capture her focus on how we perform ourselves.
## College and early writing
Dunigan started writing in high school but found her voice through college sketch comedy.
## New York writing scene
She moved to New York to work in admin at NYU and became part of the alt-Brooklyn comedy scene.
## New Yorker success
Dunigan published essays in The New Yorker from 2020 to 2024 and got an agent interested in a book.
## Perception anxiety
Dunigan writes about how she felt the need to perform herself online and offline during her teens.
## Tinder and Glee
She shares stories about her One Direction fanfiction and responding to Tinder messages.
## Credit score anxiety
Dunigan writes about the anxiety of calculating credit scores and social media presence.
## Grandmother deaths
Dunigan's grandmothers died within four months while she was writing the book.
## Book's deeper message
Dunigan hopes readers will smile and realize they can be themselves despite trying to seem cool.
## Upcoming novel
Dunigan is writing a novel about a boy band trapped in a hotel with fans who are killing each other.
## Key takeaway

The book shows how we try to seem cool but ultimately are just ourselves.