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    Anxious People: A Novel
    Anxious People: A Novel
    Anxious People: A Novel
    Ebook408 pages6 hours

    Anxious People: A Novel

    By Fredrik Backman

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    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, The Washington Post, New York Post, 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.” —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 them—the bank robber included—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 hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious times.

    Editor's Note

    A feel-good charmer…

    If you’re looking for an uplifting read (and who isn’t these days), this feel-good charmer from “A Man Called Ove” author Fredrik Backman is sure to boost your spirits and restore your belief in the power of community.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtria Books
    Release dateSep 8, 2020
    ISBN9781501160851
    Author

    Fredrik Backman

    Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, and Anxious People, as well as two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter @BackmanLand and on Instagram @Backmansk.

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    Reviews for Anxious People

    4.5/5

    1,971 ratings122 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I had to read this because my book group will be discussing it. It is pretty silly. No one is as stupid as the police officers, the bank robber, the goofy people thinking of buying the apartment. . . . And yet, I came to identify with a couple of them. A lot of things happen at the end, but the final final end was a satisfying surprise. Also, I do like the final "message" that we all do the best we can, we made it through another day, and there'll be another one tomorrow.
    • 5/5
      An inexperienced bank robber tries to rob a cashless bank, then panics and holds several people hostage in an apartment that they are looking at with a real estate person. This book is funny yet sad in places. A good read.
    • 2/5
      We are all Stockholmers now.
      Alternately touching, humorous, insightful, scattered & stupid.
      I'm writing Camus The Stranger right now and both books seem to be describing the same world. Ultimately hopeless.
      If I were ready to jump off a bridge and had this book to read, I would go ahead and jump
    • 4/5
      It seems we are all connected. Nothing makes that more evident than a hostage situation due to a robbery of a cashless bank. Layers and layers of feelings, history, unfairness, failure, ingenuity, superiority. Is there good out there? Can people do the right thing? How does a suicide from 20yrs ago affect the hostages?
    • 5/5
      Absolutely love this book and all the characters, I found myself getting attached to them individually and as a group so much that I went to watch the Netflix series because I wasn’t ready to let them go yet! It really does portray how similar we all are in such a beautiful way. Faith in humanity restored a bit.
    • 5/5
      Absolutly Beautiful,heartwarming, bittersweet and amusing all at once. These delightful quirky characters, their stories and views of the world, will stay with me for a long time.
    • 3/5
      The story was interesting, but I found the disjointed third-person narrative kept me from ever being fully immersed in it. It also seemed like the author was trying to surprise the readers too much rather that write a cohesive story.
    • 5/5
      What a great read! I laughed out loud and cried too. The author describes each character so well and with great humour and pathos.
    • 5/5
      Funny, sad, poetic...What a wonderful read. I feel like I know the characters personally.
    • 5/5
      Love it. I Just love it the whole story :)
    • 5/5
      A good book to read when you are free. Be it on weekdays or weekends.
    • 5/5
      This is the best book I’ve read in years. It’s quirky and fun and strange and heartwarming and wonderful.
    • 5/5
      In this life we must remember we are all in it together…good, bad, and in between.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Even though I own a hard copy of this, I chose to listen to this and the narrator was fabulous. This is my third book by this author that I have enjoyed. I was a little nervous, even though the premise sounded good, because I had no luck with Beartown. I tried to get into that book twice before I gave up on it! This one though had me hooked from the beginning. I loved the characters, their different voices and not knowing what was really happening or what was going to happen. It had laugh out moments and teary ones. This was right up there with A Man Called Ove for me.
    • 5/5
      Words are hard to come by after I finish a Fredrik Backman book. "Anxious People" is crowded with wit and wisdom. He produces statements that make one ponder thoughtfully; to be mulled over sympathetically. The next moment situations and dialogue materialize that make the reader guffaw or outright belly-laugh. He has the perfect mix of humor and heartache making this a page-turner and one that can be reread several times.
    • 5/5
      I am so impressed with the puzzle of this book!! How did Backman ever construct this so that the pieces all fit together so beautifully?? it was truly a maze of major proportions to get to the ending!! Really an amazing story full of what turns out to be a delightful collection of characters.
    • 5/5
      This is truly one of the best books I've read in a long while. Backman develops characters like few others can. Very worthwhile and thought provoking read (or listen).
    • 5/5
      The Short of It:Lots of love for this odd, little story.The Rest of It:This is a story about a bank robbery. Well, kind of. What starts off as a bank robbery quickly becomes a hostage situation. But, not really. One bad choice leads to another and it’s kind of a wild ride. The dialogue is a little choppy in places and for many, this is a turn off but trust me, give it time. Ease into its craziness and let these characters do their thing and before you know it, you will be wanting to know them personally.I know I haven’t said much about the story but it’s best that I just let you experience it yourself. It is the type of story that will make you feel a lot of things. Sadness, happiness, hope. You will laugh but you will also feel for these characters and what life has dealt them. It has a much bigger message than what you would gather from that colorful cover.My recommendation: read it, enjoy it, laugh, feel good.For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter.
    • 5/5
      A lovely book about a group of people brought together by a spontaneous hostage situation...their lives, their loves, their losses. Ostensibly, it is the story of two small-town policemen trying to free the hostages and arrest a bank robber (after an aborted attempt to rob a bank, the thief runs into the apartment open house.) It is really about man's humanity; that we're all "idiots" doing the best we can and that we should try to be more understanding and forgiving. At times, sad, funny, and ultimately wise.
    • 5/5
      I wasn't really interested in reading a story about a botched bank robbery-cum-hostage situation, but of course all the reviews I'd seen said that it wasn't really about a robbery. And they were definitely right, and I'm really glad that I read it. I don't think I'll say much about the plot, except that it's really a character study of all of the characters in the apartment near the bank, about their lives and their histories and what's brought them to this apartment at this moment.It took me maybe ~100 pages to really feel invested in the book, but I'm really glad that I pushed through it. And I really loved the ending and how different characters' stories interlocked.
    • 5/5
      Oh, Anxious People, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.This is a story about a bank robbery gone wrong, a hostage situation, a certain bridge, the mundanity of apartment hunting, and a bumbling police investigation. It's all those things, but mostly this is a story about people, relationships, and, yes, anxiety. Because we're all human, and don't we each feel anxious about something at some point in our life?Backman challenges our assumptions about the people we see. He reminds us that people are complex, and that we often hide our anxieties in unexpected ways.And can we talk about Backman's writing style? I might be just a little in awe of the way he uses words to evoke emotions.Anxious People made me laugh out loud, made me cry, made me think, and left me feeling like maybe I understand humans just a little better than before.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. It started out a little quirky, and I was unsure if I was going to be drawn in, but the more I read, the more I enjoyed it.Set in rural Sweden, the characters travel well for the international reader. Ordinary people living ordinary lives and making ordinary mistakes, all told with wonderfully dry humour. The book is structured to tell the story by jumping forward and back in time - with plot developments being gradually divulged to the reader. There's a danger in this technique that the story telling becomes contrived - but not in this case. The technique is used to challenge assumptions and make the reader think, and re-think. Great stuff!
    • 5/5
      I was delighted to get the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book as I have read and loved all the author's previous books. This one ranks as one of his best. Backman's books are quite diverse genres; this one has the most humor, which I particularly appreciated. The style of the book was very clever, and I liked that my assumptions were often wrong. I may need to read the whole thing again knowing the ending, and I usually don't want to spend the time to do that with a big backlog of reading.I loved the complex characters and relationships, and I appreciated the observations on contemporary life. I also enjoyed the mystery of the book and its resolution. As much as I adored the humor and sarcasm in the book, the serious issues raised in the book were also handled beautifully. There is a lot of substance to the book which would make it a wonderful choice for book discussion groups. This is one of my favorite books of the year, and I highly recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Hilarious, depressing, sappy, zany. Oh so many truths. Truth the way comedians point out things about our lives that we all know but they (the comedians) make us aware of. The first bit of the book, bang-on observations and it's funny. Then there is a part that goes super serious. I had trouble reading it. So I put the book down and came back the next day and the plot pulled back from the darkness. It never got that dark again, but you always remember it's lurking there, and that is good enough. So it's a serious book with a solid layer of comedy and realism and romance to help read through it. It is scattered, too. First it is a look at life, then it is a police story, then it is a drama, then self-help, then mystery, then romance, then fairy tale. But always it has Backman's quirky and very readable writing style (hats off to Neil Smith for what I assume is a great translation) with quirky lovable characters. Worth reading (before you hear about the plot!)
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this book. Loved how the author wove the story, combined the lives of such different people and kept it interesting. Funny, endearing dialogue about real life situations. Well done.
    • 5/5
      I wasn't a fan of A Man Called Ove so I resisted reading this for the longest time because I didn't buy into all the hype about this one. I was totally wrong. It's beautiful, whimsical and I loved every character. It's a book about a hostage situation, idiots, and never judging someone on first impressions. Sometimes a hostage situation can be more than a hostage situation. When a bank robber flees a robbery gone wrong and runs into the first open door which happens to be an apartment viewing - things turn out unexpected for everyone involved. From the cops to the hostages to the bank teller and robber - sometimes the easiest explanation is the hardest. It's difficult to truly summarize this book without giving anything away but do yourself a favor and check it out - because it definitely lived up to the hype. Lots of little twists and turns that are unexpected and perfect.
    • 5/5
      In a word: delightful!!!In a few more words: heartwarming psychologically tinged humorous afternoon in the life of a group of accidental hostages thrown together at an apartment showing on New Year's Eve.Lots of lovely quotable tidbits are thrown out for later pondering.The audiobook had me chuckling at the unexpected, and sometimes insane, interactions between these somewhat loveable characters. The story unfolds in very tiny chapters about each of the various hostages and other supporting characters, making this story a bit of a crime mystery as well. How the lives of the hostages all gel together was really satisfying.My favorite of the hostages was the cynical banker Zara.I've heard the Swedish Netflix Original TV series based on this novel will be coming to Netflix eventually. Can't wait!
    • 5/5
      I like the way Fredrik Backman has such a distinct style but still manages to add a new flavour to it with each book he does. There was a lot going on in this book and I fell in and out of love with it a few times while I was reading it. There were moments that I thought he lost control of the plot but he always managed to pull it together again and by the end I knew that he knew exactly what he was doing the whole time. There are some good characters in the book and plenty of great dialogue and in true Backman style, he manages to make things funny and profound at the same time. Despite my ups and downs, this ended up being a really satisfying read for me. It was very immersive and by the end, I felt like I had been through an ordeal. I like that in a book.
    • 5/5
      I love Fredrik Backman's books and had very high expectations for Anxious People. I was so happy it lived up to my expectations - it made me laugh, warmed my heart and made me cry. I loved all the characters - they were all very real and relatable. I highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      I love Fredrik Backman's writing so much. His character creation is top notch and the way his characters unfold is so beautiful. Before I'd even finished the book, I had the feeling that I wanted to go right back and start it over again.

      And that's just what I did!

      I added this book to my "Banish the Stigma" shelf because it touches upon mental illness, which I really appreciate. Seeing yourself in a book is a blessing. It makes you feel less alone. It's also rare that I see a character who has OCD, and anxiety is often misunderstood. Backman treats it beautifully, allowing us to see into people's lives and hearts. That is his best quality as a writer, I think - he portrays humanity in all its glory and despair, its misery and joy. He shows, not just tells. My life has changed for the better because of Backman's books.

    Book preview

    Anxious People - Fredrik Backman

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