Girl Gone Wild

by Courtney Kocak

The Hollywood Misadventures of a Small-Town Girl

Tales of ambition, delusion, drugs, sex, and misogyny... including selling T-shirts on the Girls Gone Wild bus

GIRL GONE WILDis a collection of exploits and delusions about chasing your dreams with reckless abandon and what happens when their pursuit becomes a new kind of trap. In this memoir-in-essays, Kocak takes readers along on her heady metamorphosis from girl to woman and from dreamer to professional artist, as she is transformed in this unwitting feminist coming-of-age. It's a wild, cringeworthy, and often heartbreaking tale, but with Kocak's wry wit and clear-eyed accounting, it's nothing short of captivating.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Feminism, Biography Memoir

322 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2026

Reviews

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this down. It's a 5 not because it's perfect but because it's a great read -- a rough, wild ride of a memoir about woman's journey from will-do-anything-wanna-be-actress to writer. Most of the time my jaw was on the floor but the Grandma Betty essay had me in tears with a full heart. A writing friend asked why I liked it and my immediate response was "brutal honesty and graphic description." A glimpse into a life nothing like my own with some of the same universal life lessons -- I will be passing it on to my daughter and niece.

[D Dyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an incredibly honest memoir and I sincerely appreciated the author’s willingness to reflect on both the ways in which she was exploited by systemic misogyny and the ways in which she herself behaved self-destructively. But the writing was a bit choppy and the focus so heavily on early and more chaotic experiences that the final chapters on gaining stability felt tacked on and unsatisfying, I think a better book would have filled them out more thoroughly or not included them at all.
This book explores sex work and one particular woman’s experiences of it but I found the limitations of that and particularly of the author being a white woman with family support and how that impacts her experiences frustrating as a sex worker from a significantly less privileged position and some of the ways in which she addresses fetish work vs. online work vs. full service sex work uncomfortably though not surprisingly steeped in whorarchy.

[Carrie Schuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. Living in the author's hometown gave me some moments of amusement that might be lost on people not from Jackson. She does a good job connecting with her readers.

[Kelsey Baron · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 rounded up- an incredible, HONEST, raw story that I simply could not put down.

[Liz Kleinfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tore through this book.
I've taken several of Courtney Kocak's workshops and listen to one of her podcasts (she has three—overachiever), Private Parts Unknown. What I've always noticed about her in workshops is her generosity. She holds nothing back if it might help another writer. That same generosity is all over this memoir. Kocak doesn't hold back a single detail a reader might wonder about, especially in the sex scenes. She admits to masturbating like crazy on the floor of her closet. She admits to making the same dumb mistakes with men over and over. More than once I said out loud, "Oh no, girl, don't do it, please don't go back to him"—and she did.
The first two-thirds of the book is Kocak trying to figure out who she is, mostly by making every possible mistake with men and Adderall, and then handing readers the humiliating details without flinching. About two-thirds of the way through, there's a chapter called "Girl Gone Wild" that functions as the hinge of the whole book. It's about the time Kocak spent as a t-shirt girl for the Girls Gone Wild tour, where she watched the way the tour exploited women, and recognized herself as part of that machine. By the end of the chapter she's devastated, and she lands on what might be the thesis of the entire memoir: “When girls really go wild, it's not in ways that can be monetized by others. It's not spring break or a cross-country party bus. It's a homecoming—they return to themselves, done with the system that oppresses them.”
The last third of the book is that homecoming. Kocak still makes mistakes with men, but she's aware she's making them, and she makes them less often and less blindly. She gets a dog she can nurture. She meets the man she eventually marries, and builds something that actually looks like a mature relationship.
Despite content that's sometimes difficult to read (I’m thinking of all the material related to her abortion, which she had no support for), this book is gorgeously written. The craft is meticulous.
I will forever be a Courtney Kosak fan. I will ravenously consume her workshops, her podcasts, and whatever memoir she writes next. This woman has a lot of stories, and she's not afraid to tell them.

[Kacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

​I received an advance review copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

​I’m always drawn to memoirs, especially those that give me a front-row seat to life experiences and perspectives wildly different from my own. Courtney’s essay collection, Girl Gone Wild, delivered on every level. Reading her stories was an absolute emotional roller coaster—at times shocking, eye-opening, cringey, and almost unfathomable, yet in the very next breath deeply relatable, admirable, tear-inducing, and laugh-out-loud funny. Through every single chapter, her writing remains unapologetically honest, unfiltered, and raw.

​As someone whose own life leans pretty straight-and-narrow, the world Courtney describes is hard for me to fully imagine, but that is precisely where the magic of this book lies. Being allowed a glimpse into a reality so different from my own broadened my horizons and gave me a genuine, empathetic window into another person's unique joys, frustrations, and lived experiences.

​The essay centered around her grandmother, Betty, hit particularly close to home. I found myself in tears while reading it, feeling the weight of the exact same grief, love, and quiet regrets that I carry in my own life. Her remembrance and tributes to her grandmother are simply breathtaking, and that piece alone makes the collection unforgettable.

[Elliot Mevissen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A self-proclaimed “survivor’s account” of the transition from girlhood to womanhood, Courtney Kocak’s memoir Girl Gone Wild is a whirling ride. Through many failed relationships, near escapes from predatory encounters, and looming substance abuse, Kocak traces the pathway of her aspirations and values. She recounts years trying to make it as an actress in LA, the development of her feminism through harsh collisions with the patriarchy, and her evolving relationship with her own wildness. The memoir is witty and stands its ground, unafraid to deal with the ugliest realities of her life but willing to press forward into the new beginnings of the future. I especially appreciated watching the subtle, authentic arcs of her personal growth build throughout the wild circumstances of her life -- it helped ground the story. I really value the honesty of the story, the organization of the underlying struggles and the biggest internal conflicts, and the raw, unromanticized advocacy for healthcare, support for sex workers, and women in general.

[Michelle Glogovac · Rating 5 out of 5]

It takes true bravery, purpose and confidence to share your entire story with the world. Courtney Kocak does not hold back any details in regards to what her life has been like and I greatly appreciate her for that. From childhood to discovering who she is as a person and a woman, detailing mistakes made, lessons learned and so much more, Courtney allows us into her life while also allowing us to reflect on our own. I appreciate how she approaches so many important aspects of not only her life but the world we all see around us, from #MeToo to abortion to feminism...she talks about all of it. I enjoyed GIRL GONE WILD and found it utterly refreshing to read a memoir that shared the actual truth of someone's story!

[Nan Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Courtney is the Captain Kirk of memoirists, boldly going to places no one in their right mind goes--which makes this book an absolute blast to read. Girl Gone Wild offers a no-holds-barred joyride through a fierce and uncompromising life, and at the same time is a portrait of growing up Midwest in the late 80s and 90s. But for as much as I laughed while reading, what I most love about the book is her honest reckoning with both the courage and the cost that it takes to not just follow a dream but figure out the difference between the dream and the rabbit holes. I also really love the essay format; you can pick up any chapter in the book and read it as a stand alone or read it straight through from cover to cover. No matter which chapter you choose, she'll make you laugh and think hard.

[Jennie Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Trio House Press for this copy in exchange for my honest review. This is a raw, tell-all of a young woman’s very challenging and sometimes delusional life as a dreamer. She spills her heart on every page, exposes all her darkest memories and experiences without apology. I can’t imagine the bravery it took to share your entire life with an audience, but she did it in a way that made this an addictive page turner. I found myself relating to her in many ways as a partying 90’s teen myself. I devoured this in 2 days, it’s so readable and punchy, with humor and intrigue. If you like unfiltered all-in experiential memoirs that don’t hold back, broach sensitive topics that actually affect young women, and are unapologetically feminist, this is the one. 4.25 ⭐️

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!!

[Mediaman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Creative non-fiction that's not worth reading.

[Kathy Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not familiar with the author, but found her memoir entertaining

[Glenna Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A witty and gritty tale of heartbreak, millennial resilience and what it’s really like to go after your dreams. Humorous with a sprinkle of grief, fear and fierce feminism. A must read for any woman who wants to let loose, love and loathe all at that same time.

[Matthew J Misetich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal and surprising memoir... You wouldn't expect such wit perhaps at first glance, but Courtney Kocak makes this a thoroughly entertaining and immersive read.

[Brendan O'Meara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bold read, a book for strivers. Courtney takes us through that desperate decade-plus: being in her 20s and just trying to make a go of it. It's a wonder any of us survive our 20s.

[Isha Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Netgalley ARC
Well this was WILD.