Reviews
"The brisk, absorbing action prompts meditation on marriage, parenting, responsibility, and global economic pressures. Comedy, drama, mystery, and social study, this novel is undefinable except for the sheer reading pleasure it delivers. Highly recommended." -- Library Journal, "Backman again captures the messy essence of being human...It's clever and affecting, as likely to make you laugh out loud as it is to make you cry." -- Washington Post, "Backman's latest novel hits the sweet spot between profoundly insightful and preposterously funny....I hugged this book tightly with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes." - USA Today, "Backman is a master of writing delightful, insightful, soulful, character-driven narratives...[He] writes so humorously and poignantly about life, marriage, parenthood, love and death, prepare to be taken hostage by a stand-up philosopher/novelist who reminds us we are all 'idiots' because being human is 'idiotically difficult.'" -- USA Today, "Backman's latest novel focuses on how a shared event can change the course of multiple people's lives even in times of deep and ongoing anxiousness. A story with both comedy and heartbreak sure to please Backman fans."-- Kirkus Review, "Wry, wise and often laugh-out-loud funny, it's a wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure." -- People, "[A] tight-knit, surprise-filled narrative... the brisk, absorbing action prompts meditation on marriage, parenting, responsibility, and global economic pressures. Comedy, drama, mystery, and social study, this novel is undefinable except for the sheer reading pleasure it delivers. Highly recommended."-- Library Journal (starred review), "Backman's latest novel focuses on how a shared event can change the course of multiple people's lives even in times of deep and ongoing anxiousness. A story with both comedy and heartbreak sure to please Backman fans." -- Kirkus Review, "A deeply funny and warm examination of how individual experiences can bring a random group of people together. Backman reveals each character's many imperfections with tremendous empathy, reminding us that people are always more than the sum of their flaws." -- BookPage, "The perfect balance of heartwarming and heart-wrenching, and Fredrik Backman has a way of simply yet elegantly describing relationships. We can all be idiots, but we're still all human beings worthy of connection and love." -NPR, "This book examines how a shared event can change the course of many lives at once. And if you like strongly drawn characters and a mix of humor and heartbreak, this one's for you." - The Skimm
