Sad Janet
A Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Named one of the Best Books of the Summer by Lit Hub, The Millions, Refinery29, and Hey Alma.
“Hilarious, wise, wicked, and tender.” —Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, The New York Times–bestselling author of The Nest
Janet works at a rundown dog shelter in the woods. She wears black, loves The Smiths, and can’t wait to get rid of her passive-aggressive boyfriend. Her brain is full of anxiety, like “one of those closets you never want to open because everything will fall out and crush you.” She has a meddlesome family, eccentric coworkers, one old friend who’s left her for Ibiza, and one new friend who’s really just a neighbor she sees in the hallway. Most of all, Janet has her sadness—a comfortable cloak she uses to insulate herself from the oppressions of the wider world.
That is, until one fateful summer when word spreads about a new pill that offers even cynics like her a short-term taste of happiness . . . .just long enough to make it through the holidays without wanting to stab someone with a candy cane. When her family stages an intervention, her boyfriend leaves, and the prospect of making it through Christmas alone seems like too much, Janet decides to give them what they want. What follows is life-changing for all concerned—in ways no one quite expects.
Hilarious, bitterly wise, and surprisingly warm, Sad Janet is the depression comedy you never knew you needed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Britsch's darkly comic debut, a deadpan, abrasive narrator muses on her depression. "There's no word in the English language that properly describes this feeling I have, the one that makes other people uncomfortable," Janet thinks. After getting a degree in postmodern feminist science fiction, Janet takes a job at a dog shelter out in the woods with an equally depressed boss and a slightly sunnier co-worker. Everyone she knows, including her parents and boyfriend, is on one antidepressant or another, and they're all attempting to get Janet, who clings to what she calls her "manageable melancholia," to do the same. What plot there is revolves around whether Janet will take a newly invented pill designed to increase one's appreciation of Christmas 181 days away at the start of the novel, yet heavy on Janet's mind and if she does, if it will work. Meanwhile, she spends her time napping, drinking, and curling up on dog beds pretending to be a dog. Preternaturally self-aware, Janet has a gift for homing in on her own emotional state and everyone else's, which Britsch renders in rueful, knowing prose that may land or miss, depending on if the reader can relate to pronouncements such as "the cool kids call it melancholia, because of that Lars von Trier movie." Still, Britsch's monologue about the experience of unhappiness is undeniably infectious.
Customer Reviews
Wise, wicked and funny
Sad Janet is hilarious and wise; an introspective deep dive into feeling sad and being alone, and being (mostly) ok with it. It’s also a clever, much-needed FU to big pharma. And there are dogs in it, and relatable bits about ex-boyfriends. Brilliant!