Everything Is Just Fine

Written by Brett Paesel

Narrated by Brett Paesel

In this brilliant, laugh-out-loud satire, named one of Washington Independent Review of Books Favorite Books of 2019, image-conscious parents on a Beverly Hills junior soccer team struggle to keep up appearances as their private lives careen out of control.
"You'll wince, laugh out loud, relate to, and relish this unsparing satirical send up."---Wednesday Martin, New York Times bestselling author
Coach Randy is working mightily to keep it together, and not simply with his vaguely unhappy wife, distant child, and a new boss who's eliminating half the sales force. This season's soccer parents are a demanding bunch. Diane's wine-fueled group e-mails are almost unintelligible; team mom Jacqui's enthusiasm for the league verges on manic; a divorced couple can barely conceal their murderous rage at each other; and another mom is laser-focused on schooling everyone on what constitutes a healthy snack option.
All the secrets and lies bubbling below the surface of their membrane-thin civility threaten to combust when Alejandro, a young, foreign assistant coach refuses to play by the Beverly Hills code, which is to mind your own business and don't look too deeply into anyone's soul. Especially your own.
Brett Paesel brings hilarity and huge heart to a world that looks enviable and shiny on the outside but is, in truth, filled with aching for connection on the inside. In the vein of Perotta and Semple, everyday life in Paesel's deft rendering is anything but.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Apr 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781549175503

Reviews for Everything Is Just Fine

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Moms and Dads are rallying around their 10-year old sons in the Beverly Hills youth soccer league. There is an over-the-top friendly coach and an enthusiastic team mom. There is an assistant coach, a divorced mom who regrets the divorce, a divorced copy with the wife resentful over her husband leaving her for the nanny, a mom who strikes her child because she is so unhappy, and a young paid kicking coach that several of the moms lust after. The team parents communicate primarily by email after each game, some overly enthusiastic and effusive after the games, while others email after drinking too much.
While some of this is humorous, much of it is a commentary on how parents place too much emphasis on the youth leagues, and competitiveness at a young age, how dissatisfied some people are in their marriages - and instead of talking to their spouse, they go elsewhere for satisfaction. It examines how children feel isolated and alone, and how parents reveal their feelings inappropriately in front of their children without understanding how young the children are to deal with these issues. It deals with anger, depression, affairs, job loss, secrets, and autism.
I enjoyed this novel, and will probably read more by this author.
#EverythingIsJustFine #BrettPaesel