Really Good, Actually
Autor Monica Heiseyen Limba Engleză Paperback – oct 2023
Ritmul narativ și explorarea vulnerabilității masculine din Fleishman Is in Trouble de Taffy Brodesser-Akner găsesc un ecou feminin fascinant în acest debut, însă structura este mult mai intimă, ancorată în absurdul cotidian al unei femei de aproape treizeci de ani. Apreciem modul în care Monica Heisey reușește să transforme dezastrul personal într-o formă de artă contemplativă, refuzând clișeele vindecării rapide. În Really Good, Actually, Maggie nu trece pur și simplu printr-un divorț; ea navighează prin reziduurile unei identități construite prematur, totul pe fundalul unei teze de doctorat stagnante și al unei crize financiare iminente. Merită menționat că, spre deosebire de alte lucrări care tratează despărțirea cu o seriozitate sobră, Monica Heisey folosește umorul ca pe un instrument de precizie chirurgicală. Perspectiva este una de tip „Broad City” întâlnește realismul contemporan, unde grupurile de chat și mâncatul compulsiv la ore imposibile devin mecanisme de supraviețuire. Credem că forța acestui roman rezidă în onestitatea brutală cu care Maggie își recunoaște eșecurile, fără a căuta neapărat simpatia cititorului, ci mai degrabă solidaritatea acestuia. Este o explorare a modului în care ne reconstruim atunci când planul de viață pe care l-am urmat cu sfințenie se destramă în doar 608 zile. Deși autoarea a mai explorat teme similare în ediția germană a operei sale, Einfach super, acest roman în limba engleză consolidează vocea sa ca fiind una dintre cele mai relevante în beletristica actuală despre relații. Stilul este alert, presărat cu observații acide despre prietenie și dragoste modernă, oferind o experiență de lectură care, deși amuzantă, lasă în urmă o melancolie subtilă despre ce înseamnă să fii „bine” într-o lume care cere perfecțiune constantă.
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Specificații
ISBN-10: 0008511764
Pagini: 376
Dimensiuni: 128 x 195 x 31 mm
Greutate: 0.34 kg
Editura: HarperCollins Publishers
Colecția Fourth Estate
De ce să citești această carte
Recomandăm această carte oricui a simțit vreodată că viața sa a luat-o într-o direcție greșită înainte de a împlini treizeci de ani. Cititorul câștigă o perspectivă onestă și plină de umor asupra „eșecului” social, învățând că procesul de vindecare este, de cele mai multe ori, unul haotic și lipsit de grație. Este alegerea perfectă pentru fanii prozei contemporane care îmbină satira socială cu momente de profundă sensibilitate umană.
Despre autor
Monica Heisey este o scriitoare și comediană originară din Toronto, a cărei carieră s-a conturat prin contribuții remarcabile în publicații de prestigiu precum The New Yorker, The Guardian și VICE. Recunoscută pentru talentul său de scenaristă premiată, Heisey și-a rafinat capacitatea de a observa absurdul social și dinamica relațiilor moderne. Experiența sa în televiziune și eseu se reflectă în precizia dialogului și în ritmul comic al scrierilor sale. Really Good, Actually reprezintă debutul său editorial în ficțiune, o lucrare ce sintetizează vocea sa unică, apreciată de critici pentru echilibrul dintre umorul caustic și profunzimea emoțională.
Descriere scurtă
The No. 2 SUNDAY TIMES Bestseller An Observer Best Debut of the Year 'Intoxicating ... heralds a really good author to watch' The Times 'Hilarious and profound' Dolly Alderton, author of Everything I Know About Love 'Wildly funny and almost alarmingly relatable' Marian Keyes, author of Again, Rachel 'Monica Heisey is a genius' Nina Stibbe, author of Reasons to be Cheerful One of the most hotly anticipated, hilarious and addictive debut novels of 2023, from Schitt's Creek and Workin' Moms screenwriter and electric new voice in fiction, Monica Heisey.
I feel like when you get a divorce everyone's wondering how you ruined it all, what made you so unbearable to be with. If your husband dies, at least people feel bad for you. Maggie's marriage has ended just 608 days after it started, but she's fine - she's doing really good, actually.
Sure, she's alone for the first time in her life, can't afford her rent and her obscure PhD is going nowhere . . .
but at the age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new status as a Surprisingly Young Divorcee (TM). Soon she's taking up 'sadness hobbies' and getting back out there, sex-wise, oversharing in the group chat and drinking with her high-intensity new divorced friend Amy. As Maggie throws herself headlong into the chaos of her first year of divorce, she finds herself questioning everything, including: Why do we still get married? Did I fail before I even got started? How many Night Burgers until I'm happy? Laugh-out-loud funny, razor sharp and painfully relatable, Really Good, Actually is an irresistible debut novel about the uncertainties of modern love, friendship and happiness from a stunning new voice in fiction, Monica Heisey.
'Hilarious, heart-warming, wise' Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train 'Monica Heisey makes me laugh hard and often' Rob Delaney 'A Sex and The City for social media-obsessed millennials ... Irresistible' Metro 'Wry, modern, self-deprecating' Independent 'Already one of the most talked-about releases for 2023' Evening Standard
Recenzii
“A cringe-filled, funny—and surprisingly poignant—look at one woman’s self-discovery after heartbreak.” — People, Book of the Week
“One of the most hilarious and barbed accounts of unexpectedly starting over I’ve ever read. Monica Heisey isn’t just interested in the romantic side of divorce, but in how our identities collapse and the freefall that accompanies it. If you’ve ever felt lost and hoped that it was leading towards wisdom, Really Good, Actually is your novel.” — Stephanie Danler, New York Times bestselling author of Sweetbitter
"I absolutely loved it, it's so funny and so astute . . . Hilarious, heartwarming, wise." — Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Slow Fire Burning
"Really Good, Actually is a goddamn delight. Heisey doesn't shy away from any of the hard stuff, showcasing the myriad ways people turn into little monsters when their hearts get broken and lose sight of themselves. This novel is wildly funny and compulsively readable, the kind of book you immediately share with your best friend. I adored it." — Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things
"Monica Heisey is a very funny writer, which would be enough for me to recommend this book. But you have to remember: humor isn't a supplement to realism; it's a necessary component of it. Really Good, Actually may start out like a light-hearted not-so-romantic comedy, but it quickly transforms into something more tense and existential, a realistically absurd portrait of a woman who has no idea who she is or what is going on. And yeah, it's really funny." — Lauren Oyler, bestselling author of Fake Accounts
“Funny. Astutely observed. I loved it. Monica Heisey is a star writer.” — B.J. Novak, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories
"The kind of book you miss when you finish but that also leaves you feeling so deliciously content and satisfied. Heisey’s pen is by turns relentlessly sharp, incisively funny, sneakily disarming and heartbreakingly tender. This is a wonderful story about love, loss, friendship, rediscovering yourself and the hope that after coming messily apart it is possible to come back together fuller again. Maggie felt like a chaotic friend I adore and Heisey tells her story beautifully." — Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of Honey & Spice
“From the moment I picked up this book, I haven’t stopped talking about it. Really Good, Actually is a hilarious look at divorce, friendship, identity, and the many ways we try and fail to take care of each other. Monica Heisey has given us a modern-day Heartburn, a brilliant, unique, charming novel that I will be recommending to every single person I know.” — Jennifer Close, bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses
"If Bridget Jones had a long-lost Canadian niece, it would be Monica Heisey's utterly lovable hot-mess of a young divorcee, Maggie. Her voice is so fresh and funny and true, it feels like you've never heard it before, yet so familiar that you will follow it anywhere. Really Good, Actually will also totally make you want to marry each and every one of its comic digressions (the mid-heartbreak Google Searches; the Unanswered Texts, the Tinder Correspondences) because they are so perfect and brilliant and because really, what's better than the deep black humor of heartbreak?" — Laura Zigman, bestselling author of Separation Anxiety
“Every sentence of Monica Heisey’s writing is a treat. Her observations on men, women, friendship, family, love, sexuality and womanhood are equal parts hilarious and profound. No one makes me laugh like she does.” — Dolly Alderton, bestselling author of Ghosts
"Impossibly funny, endearingly felt, alive and rich and ultimately a story of trying not only to find one's self but to figure out how best to care for the people we love. I woke up both my husband and my dog laugh-crying while reading this book." — Lynn Steger Strong, author of Flight
"Monica Heisey makes me laugh hard and often." — Rob Delaney
“Heisey perfectly captures the realities of a big, bad breakup, and it couldn’t be more refreshing. Add that to the downright loveable cast and you’ve got the perfect anti-rom com.” — Bust magazine
"A young divorcée stumbles through modern dating, adult friendship, mental health issues and self-discovery in this darkly funny novel about spinning out before starting over. . . . Moments of genuine pain, joy or self-interrogation combine with dark humor to make a novel that manages to remain engaging even as Maggie slides to an inevitable rock bottom. . . . Really Good, Actually is a coming-of-age novel for adults trying to connect in the age of apps. Fans of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Queenie or shows like HBO's Girls will want to give it a read." — Shelf Awareness
"Comedian and TV writer Heisey delivers an appealing debut novel (after the essay collection I Can’t Believe It’s Not Better) about a 28-year-old stalled PhD candidate left adrift after her divorce . . . Even in its darkest moments the book is very funny, and Heisey’s inspired skewering of urban millennial life hits the mark. Readers will gobble up this Bridget Jones’s Diary for the smartphone era.” — Publisher's Weekly
"Heisey’s portrayal of the joys and pitfalls of online dating will ring true, and Maggie’s self-deprecating, often snarky humor keeps the deeper themes of the story from getting too heavy. It’s a thoroughly modern take on 1990s chick lit, exaggeratedly over the top in the best possible way. Readers will cheer messy Maggie on as she stumbles inelegantly toward a happy, postdivorce life." — Booklist
“A prime example of how a storyteller's voice can pull you right in and keep you clinging to every sentence. . . . This is a book I would/will give to my closest girlfriends and say, ‘You have to read this.’” — Zibby Owens, GoodMorningAmerica.com
“Heisey's comedic and sage depiction of life and love's unexpected pitfalls is heartwarming.” — POPSUGAR
"Prepare for a charmingly messy and relatable reflection of modern love and the elusive search for happiness in Heisey's heartfelt and hilarious debut novel.” — E! News
“Readers will surely relate to Maggie as she navigates these choppy new waters…Really Good, Actually is a balm that will soothe the soul.” — Shondaland, The Best Books for January 2023
“Very funny—think Bridget Jones meets ‘Broad City’. . . . Heisey is making a career out of guiding characters through the kinds of crises we can laugh at and sympathize with all at once, while upending enough rom-com tropes to keep things interesting.” — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times
“Tremendously funny and thoughtful.” — GQ
“Confiding and delightfully crass . . . Come for the crying and masturbating and post-split Tinder roundelays; stay for the mordant, messy wit that lights up nearly every page.”
— Entertainment Weekly, Winter 2023 Books Preview
“Surprisingly hilarious and bittersweet. A funny and talented debut.” — New York Post
"Heisey’s adroit control of her narrative and wickedly funny turns of phrase mean Maggie can become monstrous as she flails from one disastrous choice to the next, but remains heartbreakingly relatable . . . It’s an intoxicating mix of needle-sharp observation and soggy mess of emotion, and heralds a really good author to watch." — The Times (UK)
“An uproarious millennial existential crisis novel.” — Elle
"A smart and funny coming-of-divorce novel, a story of self-reckoning with a likable heroine to root for . . . full of millennial witticisms and reliably regular deadpan turns." — Shahidha Bari, Guardian (UK)
"Superbly cutting . . . brilliantly sardonic . . . a Sex and the City for social media-obsessed millennials . . . An irresistible debut." — Metro (UK)
"Painfully funny." — Lisa O’Kelly, Observer (UK)
"Believe the hype . . . At once self-mocking and serious, Heisey’s whip-smart tale of Millennial disillusionment and dawning self-knowledge sends up ‘personal growth’ cliches while exploring friendship, sexuality, body image and online performativity . . . A meticulous portrayal of self-destructive behaviour that is both painfully accurate and mordantly funny . . . For fans of Sheila Heti and Sloane Crosley." — The Bookseller (UK)