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Fiction.
Literature.
Humor (Fiction.)
HTML:Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller
A People Book of the Week, Book of the Month Club selection, and Best of Fall in Good Housekeeping, PopSugar, TheWashington Post, New YorkPost, Shondaland, CNN, and more!
"[A] quirky, big-hearted novel...Wry, wise, and often laugh-out-loud funny, it's a wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure." â??People
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove comes a charming, poignant 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 themâ??the bank robber includedâ??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 hopeâ??the things that save us, even in the most an… (more)
A surprisingly weak story from the otherwise excellent narrator Backman. The characters are theatrically overexposed, the dialogues, especially during the interrogations of the police-investigators, are unreliable with the arrogance of the witnesses and the surprising courtesy of the law enforcement officers. ( )
Anxious People is sweet and sad, strange and authentic. The writing and characters are great. Some parts are ridiculously silly, other parts are very real and heart-rending. I'll definitely read more by this author.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator does an amazing job. ( )
Strangers become friends while being held hostage. It was difficult to get through the first 50 pages, where Backman puts on a bitter front, talking directly to the reader about What's Wrong With The World Today. But as he pulls back the layers of the characters, it turns into something lovely and sappy (in a good way).
I just love Backman. I KNOW what he's going to do by now having read two other books where he sets things up the same way, but I don't care. He makes it work. You'll start by hating the characters. Probably every one of the characters. Maybe one possibly two escape the venom. Eventually, you'll find out those characters aren't as bad as you first thought. A little later, you'll realize they're actually pretty good. You'll love the characters. You'll wonder how you could have hated them a mere 100 or so pages prior. That is the magic of Backman. ( )
I am so glad I read this book. I truly love the way its written, the characters, the life stories. So much anyone can relate to on a personal level. So much to learn. ( )
This book is dedicated to the voices in my head, the most remarkable of my friends.
And to my wife, who lives with us.
First words
A bank robbery.
Quotations
...dads like teaching their sons things, because the moment we can no longer do this is when they stop being our responsibility and we become theirs. (page 51)
One single bad idea. That's all it takes.
. . . most of us remain strangers, we never know what we do to each other, how your life is affected by mine.
The real estate agent looks at him, and thinks he looks like a person who's had his sense of humor amputated.
The older police officer squints at the real estate agent. He's gotten into the habit of doing that when he encounters, incomprehensible individuals, and a lifetime of almost constant squinting, has given the skin under his eyes, something of the quality of soft ice cream.
It's hardly surprising that people get confused and society is going to the dogs when it's full of caffeine-free coffee, gluten-free bread, alcohol, free beer.
Fiction.
Literature.
Humor (Fiction.)
HTML:Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller
A People Book of the Week, Book of the Month Club selection, and Best of Fall in Good Housekeeping, PopSugar, TheWashington Post, New YorkPost, Shondaland, CNN, and more!
"[A] quirky, big-hearted novel...Wry, wise, and often laugh-out-loud funny, it's a wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure." â??People
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove comes a charming, poignant 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 themâ??the bank robber includedâ??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 hopeâ??the things that save us, even in the most an
▾Library descriptions
No library descriptions found.
▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
Viewing an apartment normally doesn't turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.
First is Zara, a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else until tragedy changed her life. Now, she's obsessed with visiting open houses to see how ordinary people live—and, perhaps, to send an old wrong to right. Then there's Roger and Anna-Lena, an Ikea-addicted retired couple who are on a never-ending hunt for fixer-uppers to hide the fact that they don't know how to fix their own failing marriage. Julia and Ro are a young lesbian couple and soon-to-be parents who are nervous about their chances for a successful life together since they can't agree on anything. And there's Estelle, an eighty year-old woman who has lived long enough to be unimpressed by a masked bank robber waving a gun in her face. And despite the story she tells them all, Estelle hasn't really come to the apartment to view it for her daughter, and her husband really isn't outside parking the car.
As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people.
Rich with Fredrik Backman's "pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature" (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People's whimsical plot serves up unforgettable insights into the human condition and a gentle reminder to be compassionate to all the anxious people we encounter every day.
Haiku summary
Strangers held hostage Become allies sharing hope There will be fireworks (HelenGress)