Mara Altman writes about issues that embarrass her (i.e. chin hair), because she has found that putting shame on the page diffuses the stigma, leaving her with a sense of empowerment and freedom. Her favorite thing is when a reader writes to her and says something like, “I have chin hair, too!” or “Hemorrhoids!”

Mara has published eight best-selling Kindle Singles. Thanks for Coming, her first book, follows her on an adventure to find her orgasm, and has been translated into three languages – German, Spanish and Portuguese. The book was also optioned by HBO.

Gross Anatomy: Dispatches From the Front (and Back), her newest book, was released by Putnam in August 2018. With a combination of personal anecdotes and fascinating research, Gross Anatomy holds up a magnifying glass to our beliefs, practices, biases, and body parts and shows us the naked truth: that there is greatness in our grossness.

Her latest Audible Original, A Short Drink of Water, was released in December, 2021.

Mara has written for publications such as The New York Times, Salon, New York Magazine and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Before going freelance, she worked as a staff writer for the Village Voice and daily newspapers in India and Thailand. Mara has a masters from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and lives in San Diego with a few other hairy beings.