Anxious People (Large Print / Hardcover)

Staff Pick Badge
Anxious People By Fredrik Backman Cover Image
$51.29
Available in our Warehouse: Usually Ships in 3-8 Days

Staff Reviews


Backman's genius is the way he lulls the reader into believing this is a comic caper. It is on the surface the story of an inept bank robber and the apartment hunters the bank robber accidentally takes hostage. But every character is so much more than you are initially led to believe. As their secrets and sorrows rise to the surface, you begin to realize that we all have much we hide and all of us can be made to appear foolish.

— Lisa

I enjoyed this book in a way I hadn’t experienced reading in ages. I paid no attention to what page number I was on. I was just IN the story--escaping, fully along for the ride. From the opening pages where Backman is interviewing the real estate agent, I was hooked. I always enjoy scenarios where multiple lives or storylines intertwine. I enjoyed his way of narrating: his careful reveal of relationships, and incredibly accurate way of capturing two people miscommunicating or rubbing each other the wrong way. I also appreciated how it felt like a tale crafted with intention. The ending was unrushed, and the characters written out with care. Many of my favorite books live within children’s literature, as I often find something missing from books considered “adult”. But Backman’s story gave me the whimsy, humor, and heart I deeply needed.

— Sophie

September 2020 Indie Next List


“This book made me feel all the feels! It was sad, it was funny, it was hopeful, it was everything. The character development is incredible at revealing what’s inside each of the characters, and the way their stories link and interconnect is genius. It’s a story about sadness and hope and human connections. I couldn’t put it down and barreled to the end, but now I am sad it’s over. Anxious People is truly the best thing I’ve read in a long time!”
— Lisa Driban, Hockessin Book Shelf, Hockessin, DE

Description


From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and "writer of astonishing depth" (The Washington Times) comes a poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix their own marriage. There's a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them--the bank robber included--desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Rich with Fredrik Backman's "pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature" (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope--the things that save us, even in the most anxious times.
Product Details
ISBN: 9781432879716
ISBN-10: 1432879715
Large Print: Yes
Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
Publication Date: September 8th, 2020
Language: English