2026 WASHINGTON STATE BOOK AWARD FINALIST

What does authenticity at work actually mean?

Writer and critic Jodi-Ann Burey argues that expectations to "come as you are" and "bring your full authentic self to work" are part of an ongoing cycle of trading on our identities when it's convenient and profitable. Part memoir and criticism, and using pop culture, personal storytelling and interviews, Burey draws insights from acclaimed television shows like The Good Place and Issa Rae's Insecure and conversations with family, friends, colleagues and strangers alike to examine what "authenticity" really means in the workplace.

We travel with Burey to Florida where she interviews her parents about the myth of the American Dream; to a safari park in Malawi which starts her global health career; to an independent bookstore in Seattle where she disenchants a circle of women of the false hope of pay transparency laws; to the Guggenheim Museum in her hometown New York City where art inspires reflections on disability, visibility and pressures to disclose at work.

"Authentic is not a comfort book. It is, rather, a reckoning" (The Guardian). Instead of hope, Burey offers readers a declaration to reimagine and redefine agency in their professional lives: "I am not a worker. I am a person at work."