Grief is for People
A Memoir
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- USD 8.99
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- USD 8.99
Descripción editorial
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A VOGUE, NEW STATESMAN AND TIME MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF 2024
AN OPRAH PICK OF THE YEAR 2024
'Obviously, Grief Is for People is about grief, but Sloane Crosley can't help being funny' GABRIELLE ZEVIN
'A stunning investigation into the nature of loss' VOGUE
'I am a Crosley fan and, to my mind, this is her best book: subtle, brutal and, amazingly, funny, with twists that made me catch my breath' SUNDAY TIMES
For most of her adult life, Sloane and Russell worked together and played together as they navigated the corridors of office life, the literary world, and the dramatic cultural shifts in New York City. One day, while Russell is still alive, Sloane's apartment is broken into. Along with her most prized possessions, the thief makes off with her sense of security, leaving a mystery in its place.
When Russell dies exactly one month later, his suicide propels her on a wild quest to right the unrightable, to explore what constitutes family and possession as the city itself faces the staggering toll brought on by the pandemic.
Crosley's search for truth is frank, darkly funny, and gilded with a resounding empathy. Upending the 'grief memoir' in this deeply moving and surprisingly suspenseful portrait of friendship, Grief Is for People is a category-defying story of the struggle to hold on to the past without being consumed by it. A modern elegy, it is a book about loss packed with verve for life, rising precisely to console and challenge our notions of mourning during these grief-stricken times.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this aching meditation on loss and friendship, essayist and novelist Crosley (Cult Classic) eulogizes her late literary mentor and best friend against the backdrop of the high-pressure publishing industry. At 25, Crosley applied for a job opening at Vintage Books. Russell Perreault, the then-37-year-old head of the paperback imprint's publicity department, was charmed and offered her the job. When Crosley, who was hesitant to leave her current position at "a more commercial publishing house," asked for a second interview, Russell shot back, "It's like you've been admitted to Harvard but first you need a tour of the bathrooms." From there, the two became fast friends as they faced down crises both minor and major, including the exposure of James Frey's lies in his fictionalized 2003 memoir, A Million Little Pieces. By the 2010s, however, Russell's light began to dim—Crosley stopped receiving invitations to his country house after his romantic life imploded, and changing workplace norms silenced his signature banter. On June 27, 2019, Crosley's apartment was burglarized; exactly one month later, Russell died by suicide. Crosley elegantly links the two losses by explaining how her fevered desire to reclaim her burglarized items stood in for her inability to reclaim Russell. Her characteristically whip-smart prose takes on a newly introspective quality as she reinvigorates dusty publishing memoir tropes and captures the minutiae of a complicated friendship with humor and heart. This is a must-read.
