American Fantasy - by Emma Straub (Hardcover)

About the Book

"From New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow, an irresistible story about what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true after you're already an adult. When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous 1990s boyband, and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them for thirty years. Newly divorced and with an empty nest, Annie is on board as a lark to appease her sister. Once a diehard fan of the band as a teen, her tastes have matured, and she feels out of place amid the sea of bedazzled, air-brushed t-shirts bearing the singers' faces. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing before her, something is unlocked. "Maybe that was nostalgia after all, the music a direct vein to her childhood, the least complicated part of her life. A short cut to happiness." Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the music of her youth, and the thousands of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she comes in contact with Keith, the band's slightly depressed, fifty-something lead singer - not just a celebrity but someone clearly in need of a friend - she feels like anything is possible. But a lot can go wrong on a ship ruled by hormones and hope, frustration and fantasy. Packed with wisdom, heart, and laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, youth, nostalgia, marriage, and middle age, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured, uplifting story about the magic of revisiting youthful feelings, and the even greater magic of starting anew"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

"I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy."-- Ann Patchett

"American Fantasy is such a fun, delicious, big-hearted book." -Taylor Jenkins Reid

"You will feel so understood by this novel." -Rainbow Rowell

From New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow, an irresistible story about what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true after you're already an adult.

When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood.

Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, newly divorced, turning fifty with an empty nest, and here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members--not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend--she has accessed a new sense of possibility.

In a smart and incisive book packed with laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, aging, marriage, and middle age, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured story that shows us real passion is never truly lost, that what we love makes us who we are, and that deep meaning can sometimes be found in a sea of screaming fans.

Review Quotes

"I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy. I was up too late reading, then got up too early to go back to reading. All I wanted was American Fantasy. It brims with truth and humanity and insight, and it made me snort like a pig. I loved it. I think the entire country will love it." --Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A treasure chest of a story, filled with Straub's signature warmth, humor, compassion, and insight. I rooted for these characters and worried about them, and by the end...I was completely swept away by my love for them. An unmitigated pleasure from start to finish, I did not want to return to dry land!" --Coco Mellors, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Sisters

"American Fantasy is such a fun, delicious, big-hearted book." --Taylor Jenkins Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Emma Straub is the most empathetic and open-hearted writer in literature. It is pure joy to see her turn to the emotionally complicated territory of teenage nostalgia and what it means to reconnect with the feelings of youth from the realities of middle age. In American Fantasy Straub uncovers the beauty and regret of reconciling who we once were with who we are now." --Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

"A delicious novel about being a grown-up girl who once loved something very, very much. You don't have to be a fan of something to love American Fantasy, but if you've ever truly devoted yourself to a boy band or a TV show or even a series of books, you will feel so understood by this novel. And then you'll keep reading, trying to understand yourself better." -Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cherry Baby

"Peak intelligence, and criminally readable." --Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

About the Author

Emma Straub is a Guggenheim fellow and the New York Times bestselling author of seven books for adults, including American Fantasy, This Time Tomorrow, All Adults Here, Modern Lovers and The Vacationers. She and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York.