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Fredrik Backman’s unique talent of writing combined with his understanding of what makes people tick �� pain, love, connection, and anxiety are on full display in this book: ‘Anxious People.��

The enjoyment is the story told in the form of a puzzle or perhaps a light mystery and presented as “Dinner Theater�� maybe. I feel as though the characters are on stage and I am watching them perform, but in the best possible way. Fredrick calls them all ‘idiots,�� but I believe he might mean they are just ‘average,�� people who just try to get by in life, doing the best they can.

What turns out to be a comedy of errors: A viewing of an apartment for sale, on the day before New Year’s Eve, puts a small group of people into minor chaos but results in them learning more about themselves and their relationships than they have in the last ten years.

Backman likes to make us think while he is telling us exactly what is going on. It is comparable to, “hiding in plain sight.�� You are listening, or reading, but you are not quite sure you understand what he just told you. It will all make sense a few sentences or paragraphs later, not to worry.

Our group is a mixed assortment: two couples, one older married a long time, one younger and expecting their first child; will both learn they really do love each other but show it in different ways. The single people all have a story behind too, of course. One is old and lonely, another is single, working and quite capable; yet another is getting divorced and has two young children, barely making ends meet. Our two policemen, father, and son carry some baggage too. Over the course of an exceedingly long day they all learn valuable lessons, meet interesting people, and realize the future can be bright.

Now do not get the wrong idea, this is not some cozy rom-com. We start out with a bank-robber who runs into an apartment building smack into an open-house for an apartment for sale, with a roomful of people that become hostages. The bank-robber is wearing a ski-mask and wielding a pistol, so everyone pays attention. You should too, it is going to be a long day, but well-worth your time.

Definitely one of Fredrik Backman’s BEST!


Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books, and Fredrik Backman