This Is Not About Us: Fiction
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American family—steadfast, complicated, begrudging, and loving—from the bestselling author of Isola
“Wise, witty . . . a deliciously readable book [about] the delicate minutiae of family life, played beautifully, boldly, brightly in a major key.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
“Goodman’s mature and deftly written book suggests that, in family as in art, there is no such thing as uncomplicated happiness.”—The Wall Street Journal
Was this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubinstein family, it could go either way.
When their beloved sister passes away, Sylvia and Helen Rubinstein are unmoored. A misunderstanding about apple cake turns into a decade of stubborn silence. Busy with their own lives—divorces, dating, career setbacks, college applications, bat mitzvahs and ballet recitals—their children do not want to get involved. As for their grandchildren? Impossible.
With This Is Not About Us, master storyteller Allegra Goodman—whose prior collection was heralded as “one of the most astute and engaging books about American family life” (The Boston Globe)—returns to the form and subject that endeared her to legions of readers. Sharply observed and laced with humor, This Is Not About Us is a story of growing up and growing old, the weight of parental expectations, and the complex connection between sisters—a big-hearted book about the love that binds a family across generations.
“Wise, witty . . . a deliciously readable book [about] the delicate minutiae of family life, played beautifully, boldly, brightly in a major key.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
“Goodman’s mature and deftly written book suggests that, in family as in art, there is no such thing as uncomplicated happiness.”—The Wall Street Journal
Was this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubinstein family, it could go either way.
When their beloved sister passes away, Sylvia and Helen Rubinstein are unmoored. A misunderstanding about apple cake turns into a decade of stubborn silence. Busy with their own lives—divorces, dating, career setbacks, college applications, bat mitzvahs and ballet recitals—their children do not want to get involved. As for their grandchildren? Impossible.
With This Is Not About Us, master storyteller Allegra Goodman—whose prior collection was heralded as “one of the most astute and engaging books about American family life” (The Boston Globe)—returns to the form and subject that endeared her to legions of readers. Sharply observed and laced with humor, This Is Not About Us is a story of growing up and growing old, the weight of parental expectations, and the complex connection between sisters—a big-hearted book about the love that binds a family across generations.
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Community Reviews
I’m going to say upfront that I don’t enjoy books about dysfunctional families who fight, control, or manipulate one another for no reason beyond satisfying their selfish and self-indulgent ways. Maybe that’s judgy, but I’m good with that. It’s especially hard if a book opens with sisters fighting over an apple cake, of all things, while their younger sister is dying. The feud will cast a ridiculously childish but nonetheless real shadow over the entire family for the upcoming decades. Then we have a family member who inserts herself into her ex-husband’s new relationship and a father who argues for tough love when his daughter is dealing with mental health issues. The list could go on, but rehashing this family’s story is too depressing. Some books aren’t for me, but I do recognize this author’s talent and that family dynamics aren’t always sunshine and butterflies.
Thanks to Random House | Dial Press and NetGalley for this eARC.
Thank you to the author and publisher for this advanced reader copy!
I am grateful to have had another Allegra Goodman book to read, I have loved her style of writing ever since I read Kaaterskill Falls and this was very reminiscent of that same style. I love a good dysfunctional family trope, especially a Jewish family which Goodman captures their nuances pretty well.
I will sometimes get frustrated by this trope (just communicate better!) but this wasn't that way for me. I think it's because all the characters knew how to show that they really were good on the inside, and just didn't know how to always show it, put down their ego, etc. But you really got a good glimpse of how good every character was, and that made me want the family to succeed, and made me want to have the same family!
I am grateful to have had another Allegra Goodman book to read, I have loved her style of writing ever since I read Kaaterskill Falls and this was very reminiscent of that same style. I love a good dysfunctional family trope, especially a Jewish family which Goodman captures their nuances pretty well.
I will sometimes get frustrated by this trope (just communicate better!) but this wasn't that way for me. I think it's because all the characters knew how to show that they really were good on the inside, and just didn't know how to always show it, put down their ego, etc. But you really got a good glimpse of how good every character was, and that made me want the family to succeed, and made me want to have the same family!
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