American Fantasy: A Novel
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“American Fantasy has everything we need right now: '90s nostalgia, humor, and it is a great escape.” —Jenna Bush Hager on NBC Today Show
"I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy.” —Ann Patchett
“American Fantasy is such a fun, delicious, big-hearted book.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid
“Comedy and redemption on the high seas...breezy, tenderhearted.”—New York Times
From New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow, an irresistible story about what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true after you’re already an adult.
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood.
Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has accessed a new sense of possibility.
In a smart and incisive book packed with laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, aging, and marriage, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured story that shows us real passion is never truly lost, that what we love makes us who we are, and that deep meaning can sometimes be found in a sea of screaming fans.
“American Fantasy has everything we need right now: '90s nostalgia, humor, and it is a great escape.” —Jenna Bush Hager on NBC Today Show
"I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy.” —Ann Patchett
“American Fantasy is such a fun, delicious, big-hearted book.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid
“Comedy and redemption on the high seas...breezy, tenderhearted.”—New York Times
From New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow, an irresistible story about what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true after you’re already an adult.
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood.
Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has accessed a new sense of possibility.
In a smart and incisive book packed with laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, aging, and marriage, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured story that shows us real passion is never truly lost, that what we love makes us who we are, and that deep meaning can sometimes be found in a sea of screaming fans.
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Community Reviews
Published on Peeking Between the Pages (https://peekingbetweenthepages.com/2026/04/american-fantasy-by-emma-straub-audiobook.html)
American Fantasy is one of those books that took me back in time. I’ve read other books by Emma Straub and she’s one of those authors who always delivers a story that will sweep you up for a while.
Annie, newly divorced and an empty-nester, has found herself aboard a cruise ship by herself as her sister got hurt and couldn’t come. Annie didn’t want to be on this cruise ship with a bunch of screaming women who worship a famous boys band from the 1990’s. Annie liked them back then too but she’s older now and her tastes have changed from those teenage years. When the guys start performing though, she finds herself falling into it and feeling more free than she has in years.
I really connected to Annie and I am the perfect demographic for this novel. Amidst the craziness around her she finds herself again – the part she thought was gone forever. This novel had me remembering so much from my younger years and thinking how fun it would be to relive some of it. As Annie reflected on her youth, marriage, family, and career she was able to accept things she couldn’t before and found that she came away with a plan for her future.
The audiobook is narrated by Marin Ireland who is always amazing. She was the perfect choice for this novel and really brought out Annie’s personality and feelings, not to mention the crazy vibe of the ship. I love listening to any book she narrates.
American Fantasy was a winner for me. I think it will really appeal to middle age women who can relate to Annie but really to anybody in that it reminds us of our youth and the magic of it all but also that it’s never too late to start over and live your dreams. Highly recommended!
Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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