Anxious People
"This book is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots."
Author: Fredrick Backman
On the first page, the author states: “This book is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots.”
I’ve got to like a book that starts out this way!
Don’t get me wrong, “A Man Called Ove” is still Backman’s best (and if you haven’t read that book yet, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to read it. It’s a great summer read with wonderful characters and a great plot. Seriously, one of my favorites books of all time!)
That being said, “Anxious People” didn’t disappoint me at all; in fact, I think I enjoyed the first chapter of this book more than any other I have read recently. All through this book, sentences just seemed to jump out and speak to directly to me, like “Sometimes we panic, because the bills need paying and we have to be grown-up and we don’t know how, because it’s so horribly, desperately easy to fail at being grown-up.” It’s funny because sometimes I simply forget that I’m not 16 anymore, and I’m surprised when others expect me to be a grown-up.
For me, character development is essential to a good story, and this book definitely has that. Just when I felt like the plot was lagging, Backman would throw in a little nugget from one of the characters and I’d be right back into it. His characters’ personalities, variety, and lack of stereotypes were wonderfully refreshing (the various meanings of “Stockholmers” made me chuckle). He kept me guessing until the very end. I’d definitely recommend this book!
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.