I Regret Almost Everything is McNally’s memoir. A typical memoir is defined as an individual’s self-written accounting of their own story. Traditionally, memoirs trace a specific, defining era in the author’s life. Some memoirs defy this literary convention by tracing the author’s experiences from birth to the present day. In I Regret Almost Everything, McNally embraces both of these memoir styles. The text primarily filters McNally’s life experiences through his foray into and experiences within New York City’s dining culture. At the same time, the text isn’t limited to McNally’s vocational circumstances. Instead, the memoir delves into intimate sequences from McNally’s childhood, his adolescence, his coming of age, his world travels, his marriages, his experiences as a father, his mental health journey, and his medical challenges. By incorporating these aspects of his experience into his vocational history, McNally renders a heartfelt, authentic representation of his lifelong Search for Meaning and Purpose.

The aforementioned aspects of I Regret Almost Everything also allow the text to function as a professional memoir, a confessional memoir, and a travel memoir. Professional (or celebrity) memoirs “cover important moments in the author’s rise to fame and success” (Dukes, Jessica. “What Is A Memoir?” Celadon Books). McNally’s title satisfies this classification because it excavates the decisions, relationships, and experiences that led McNally to become one of the most famous restaurateur’s in New York City’s dining culture history. He has not only opened and operated nearly 20 restaurants over the course of his career, but has also been credited with creating Manhattan’s now famous “Downtown” dining scene. Confessional memoirs “are unapologetically bold. The author shares painful or difficult secrets about themselves or their family and how it has affected them.” I Regret Almost Everything satisfies this classification in that McNally details the circumstances surrounding his stroke, his depression, his attempted death by suicide, and his two divorces. Sharing these private aspects of his experience on the page affects a confessional tone and mood—implying that McNally is processing these challenges through writing and publicizing his story. Further, the memoir functions as a travel memoir because McNally details his various cross-continental adventures throughout his life. According to Celadon Books’s article on memoir writing, travel memoirs allow the reader to “escape with the author and learn about a time and place through their experiences” (Dukes). McNally incorporates allusions to his travels in Kathmandu, Luxembourg, Afghanistan, and France to convey how visiting other places influenced his artistic vision and evolving sense of self. He also delves into the history of SoHo, Martha’s Vineyard, the Cotswolds, and London’s East End. These seeming tangents offer the reader historical insight into the settings that have contributed to McNally’s growth throughout his life.

McNally’s memoir marries various tonal registers to offer a distinct window into the restaurateur’s personal and professional lives. By allowing his voice to shift between humor and reflection, questioning and assertion, McNally formally conveys how pivotal moments in his life have shaped his identity.

I Regret Almost Everything is in conversation with other contemporary professional and confessional memoirs including Graydon Carter’s When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines, Alice Water’s Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook, and Louis Theroux’s Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times in Television.