Grief Is For People: A Memoir

Disarmingly witty and poignant, Sloane Crosley's memoir explores multiple kinds of loss following the death of her closest friend.

A stunning investigation into the nature of loss - VOGUEPotent and propulsive, a lyrical meditation on loss and what comes after - TARA WESTOVERFor 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.

'Tender and poignant ... though it's loss [Grief is for People] grapples with, the pages brim with life' - Vanity Fair

'This moving portrait of loss ... cleverly bends elements of a mystery thriller with memoir, dissecting grief and the many ways it presents itself while even managing to make you laugh' - Red Magazine

'A stunning investigation into the nature of loss [offering] a bittersweet balm to many ... Grief is for People is an ambitious book lightened by strains of acerbic comedy' - Vogue

'A marvelously tender memoir on suicide and loss' - Kirkus Reviews

'Crosley is a tightrope writer of devastating wit and plain devastation, a balancing act no doubt requiring even more muscle in this memoir of her grief ... Structuring this memoir around the five stages of grief, Crosley denies. She bargains. She finds herself in a shady third-floor suite in the diamond district with truly shocking results. And she writes. Also a story of the shifting sands of the last two decades in book publishing and the author's and her friend's changing places within it, this is a searching, impassioned, cathartic, and loving elegy' - Booklist

'In this aching meditation on loss and friendship, essayist and novelist Crosle eulogizes her late literary mentor and best friend against the backdrop of the high-pressure publishing industry ... 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' - Publishers Weekly

'A stunning investigation into the nature of loss, Grief is for People is an ambitious book lightened by strains of acerbic comedy. Crosley, who is perhaps best known for her effervescent essay collection I Was Told There'd Be Cake hasn't abandoned her spritely wit, but she is looking more critically at what matters here. A quixotic hunt to reclaim stolen jewellery is intertwined with the equally insurmountable task of better understanding the friend she has lost. The loving and complex tribute Crosley has paid to him here will no doubt offer a bittersweet balm to many' - Vogue

'Crosley wields her wit and commands all of your attention...' - Esquire

'[Crosley] has that rare ability to treat scrapes with sardonic humor and inject serious subjects with levity and hijinks with real feeling -- a sort of unlicensed nurse to our souls' - NPR

'She writes so sharply and brightly' - Observer

SPECIFICATIONS:

Author:Sloane Crosley - Слоан Кросли

Publisher:Profile Books

Language:English

Publication Date:2024

Number of pages:208 pst

Format:Paperback

Width:128 mm / 5'

Height:196 mm / 7,7'

Weight:180 g

ISBN:9781805223023