What Is Wrong with You? - by Paul Rudnick (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A tech billionaire and the flight attendant he's marrying. A TV superhero who used to be married to the flight attendant. A Manhattan book editor and the sensitivity associate who got him fired. A twenty-three-year-old wild child prodigy who's perhaps the savior of American literature. A vengeful Arkansas sheriff who sells a vitamin-enriched, ten-pounds-off-today demulsifier. A Wall Street bro who raps on TikTok. Two dentists--possibly stalking each other. What do these people have in common? Invited or not, they're all headed to the most anticipated destination wedding ever, on the billionaire's private island, to seek romance, to cause mayhem, and to figure out everyone else's futures--and maybe even their own"--

Book Synopsis

"[A] rollicking farce about the things we do for love...A perfect book for this moment." --People

"The genuinely hilarious Paul Rudnick" (Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author) returns with a witty, insightful new novel about the joy, delight, pain, and absurdity of love in an age of cynicism, divorce, and digital madness.

A tech billionaire and the flight attendant he's marrying. A TV superhero who used to be married to the flight attendant. A Manhattan book editor and the sensitivity associate who got him fired. A twenty-three-year-old wild child prodigy who's perhaps the savior of American literature. A vengeful Arkansas sheriff who sells a vitamin-enriched, ten-pounds-off-today demulsifier. A Wall Street bro who raps on TikTok. Two dentists--possibly stalking each other.

What do these people have in common? Invited or not, they're all headed to the most anticipated destination wedding ever, on the billionaire's private island, to seek romance, to cause mayhem, and to figure out everyone else's futures and maybe even their own.

Find out what happens in Paul Rudnick's heartfelt new novel, which dares to pose the question essential to anyone who's ever been in love: What Is Wrong with You?

Review Quotes

Praise for What is Wrong With You?

"[A] rollicking farce about the things we do for love. . . . A perfect book for this moment."
--People (Best New Books)

"Whatever modern trend has got you down--political correctness, health and wellness, device madness, you name it--Rudnick skewers it in his latest comedy of manners. . . . Packed with fun in every sentence, this book is the cure for your bad mood."
--Kirkus (starred review)

"Rudnick's latest is a page-turning doozy filled with laugh-out-loud moments. . . . Playwright and author Rudnick (Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style, 2023) is famously witty and clever--on display here to readers' great delight. There isn't a dull moment to be found in this book that proves the sometimes undervalued importance of humor in literature."
--Booklist (starred review)

"What makes Rudnick's book so memorable are the well-drawn friendships among characters, their allegiance to one another, and a surprisingly touching reflection on love, trust, and the passage of time."
--Library Journal (starred review)

"Hilarious . . . delightful . . . Carried along by Rudnick's delicious wit and keen eye for detail, . . . readers will relish this comedy of errors."
--Publishers Weekly

Praise for Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style

"No funnier, wiser, or more charming book will come out this year, I guarantee."
--Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less and Less is Lost

"Rudnick writes with such engaging wit, side-eyed perceptiveness, and barbed elan, with such irrepressible life, that before you quite notice the shadings of loss, mortality, and poignant retrospection in his new novel, they have already touched you with their power."
--Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Moonglow

"[A] joyful and snarky, life-affirming, love-celebrating novel."
--Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of In Love

"A hot contender for best banter in a beach read . . . Prepare to be delighted."
--The Washington Post

"Tugs at the heart . . . Rudnick delivers [at a] multiple-laughs-per-paragraph pace."
--The New York Times

"A gay love story for the ages from one of the great comic voices of his generation . . . Is it a spoiler to say there are no limits? At least not to Rudnick's ability to brilliantly elegize and entertain."
--Kirkus (starred review)

About the Author

Paul Rudnick's most recent novel is the acclaimed Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style. His plays have been produced on and off Broadway and include Jeffrey, I Hate Hamlet, Regrets Only, and The New Century. He is the author of eight books, and he's a frequent contributor to The New Yorker; his writing has also appeared in Vogue, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and more. His screenplays include Addams Family Values, Coastal Elites, In & Out, Sister Act, and the film adaptation of Jeffrey. Find out more at PaulRudnick.com and follow him on X at PaulRudnickNY.