All Grown Up - by Jami Attenberg (Paperback)

About the Book

A Best Book of the Year
NPR * Kirkus * Elle * Bustle * Globe and Mail * Amazon * Buzzfeed * Vogue * Book Riot

A wickedly funny novel about a thirty-nine-year-old single, childfree woman who defies convention as she seeks connection.

Book Synopsis

A national bestseller from the New York Times best-selling author of The Middlesteins, All Grown Up is a wickedly funny novel about a thirty-nine-year-old single, childfree woman who defies convention as she seeks connection.

Who is Andrea Bern? When her therapist asks the question, Andrea knows the right things to say: she's a designer, a friend, a daughter, a sister. But it's what she leaves unsaid--she's alone, a drinker, a former artist, a shrieker in bed, captain of the sinking ship that is her flesh--that feels the most true. Everyone around her seems to have an entirely different idea of what it means to be an adult: her best friend, Indigo, is getting married; her brother--who miraculously seems unscathed by their shared tumultuous childhood--and sister-in-law are having a hoped-for baby; and her friend Matthew continues to wholly devote himself to making dark paintings at the cost of being flat broke.

But when Andrea's niece finally arrives, born with a heartbreaking ailment, the Bern family is forced to reexamine what really matters. Will this drive them together or tear them apart? Told in gut-wrenchingly honest, mordantly comic vignettes, All Grown Up is a breathtaking display of Jami Attenberg's power as a storyteller, a whip-smart examination of one woman's life, lived entirely on her own terms.

Review Quotes

A National Bestseller An LA Times Bestseller A New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Bestseller A Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Bestseller A Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Bestseller An IndieNext List Pick An Amazon Top 100 Best Book of 2017 A Kirkus Best Fiction of 2017 Pick "Deeply enjoyable."--Marisa Meltzer, Elle "Bravo to Attenberg, who, with hilarity and honesty, tells the story of an adult woman who wants what she wants, not what she's supposed to want."--Marie Claire "All Grown Up [is] a smart, funny/sad and unflinchingly honest novel about a single New Yorker. . . . In sparkling prose, [Attenberg] brings this wonderful character so fully to life that after the book ended, I found myself wishing Andrea well as if she were a good friend and wondering what she would do next."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "I read it twice, laughing, cringing, and even tearing up."--Judy Blume, New York Times "Addicting and incredibly refreshing.... Attenberg brings the often upsetting, often comedic realities of life across in poignant, astute vignettes that will live in the reader's heart for a long, long time."--Travel and Leisure "Thank you, Jami Attenberg, for pushing back against society's assumptions about what is allowed to matter in our lives. For giving us a different kind of narrative. All Grown Up is not all fluffy and lovely. It turns out that we have other stories -- we single people. We human beings."--Bustle "Revolutionary.... [A] perceptive study of love, sacrifice, and what it really means to be an adult."--Tablet "Jami Attenberg deftly travels inside the head of a 39-year-old woman who has no interest in doing what she's supposed to do and follows her heart instead of her mind--a story that's sexy, charming, and impossible to put down."--Newsweek "Powerful...All Grown Up is so intimately [and] sharply observed."--Vogue "Attenberg is one of our finest contemporary storytellers, and here, with her trademark clever, witty voice, she tackles the age-old question plaguing people of all ages: When do we know if we're actually all grown up?"--Nylon, "50 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2017" "Smart, heartfelt, and really freakin' funny."--Sara Novic, Elle.com, "25 Most Anticipated Books by Women for 2017" "Attenberg knows how to make a reader laugh and feel. This novel takes a hard look at what it means to be a woman living on her own terms."--Lisa Lucas, Martha Stewart Living, "Page Turners for 2017" "I read it start to finish in one go, I can't think of another book I've done that about recently."--Mary Louise Kelly, NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday "Attenberg's fifth novel is her best yet. It's a super-smart, often extremely funny, sometimes heartbreaking portrait of a 39-year-old, single, child-free heroine in New York City who's taking her very best shot at living life on her own terms. . . . As angry, sad and raw as it is astute, hilarious and hopeful, All Grown Up puts other novels in this vein to shame."--The Observer "There's something fresh and enquiring in Attenberg's writing; a gloriously technicolor quality to the voice of her anti-heroine. As is often the hallmark of these projects, much of the humour comes from a wicked brew of truth-telling, honesty and bravery. Of saying the unsayable. In this respect, Attenberg writes with a scalpel, and has presented one of the finest, and most unexpected, character studies you're likely to read all year."--The Irish Independent "Jami Attenberg will have you laughing, cursing, and ranting right along with her book's vibrant main character, Andrea -- a 39-year-old single New Yorker trying to figure out how hold her life together. (And trying to figure out what 'having your life together' even means.) This book has got serious spunk."--Bustle, "The 9 Best Fiction Books Coming Out in March" "Amidst the gems of mordant wit, All Grown Up plumbs deeper, darker veins, the ready ease with which sex (and drugs and alcohol) can become coping mechanisms, the specter of being stuck forever as everyone else moves on, "architecting new lives." Do yourself a favor and buy this book."--Tomi Obaro, Buzzfeed Books "Told in smart and funny vignettes, All Grown Up is an examination of what it means to be a woman and a grown-up in today's times. This deceptively short novel will stay with you long after finishing the last page."--Popsugar, "26 Hot New Books You'll Want to Get Your Hands On This Spring" "With a flair for understatement and crack timing, she makes Andrea Bern immensely flawed but highly resilient and self-aware, capable of reflecting on the lack of ballast in her life without drowning in clichés or Issues. It's essential to the story that Andrea is unreservedly single; what makes it so good is that she's absolutely singular."--Vulture, "8 Books You Need to Read This March" "With a satirical voice and astounding pathos, Attenberg's latest protagonist draws readers into the enthralling and thought-provoking world she inhabits, against the backdrop of an important social conversation about contemporary gender roles."--Harpers Bazaar "Fantastic-and wholly unlike anything else she's written."--Vol.1 Brooklyn "Attenberg's latest takes on the ridiculous standards we set for ourselves, all with humor and aching relatability."--PureWow "Funny, insightful."--Dallas Morning News "This is a novel about how to step up when your smug married friend suddenly gets divorced, or when your annoying mum really needs you; about 'being there' for people when you don't even know where 'there' is. It has hope, in spades."--The Guardian "All Grown Up is a smart, addictive, hilarious and relevant novel."--Meredith Maran, Washington Post "Andrea, 39, is totally single. No kids, no men, nothing keeping her from living her life to its full potential, which she does. Until her niece is born with a tragic illness, and Andrea's whole family is forced to confront their values, their lifestyles, and their choices. Told in vignettes, All Grown Up asks what happens after you've got the whole "adult" thing under control."--Gla

About the Author

JAMI ATTENBERG is the New York Times best-selling author of six novels, including The Middlesteins and Saint Mazie. She has contributed essays to the New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, and Lenny Letter, among other publications.