This Is Not About Us

Fiction

De: Allegra Goodman

Narrado por: Kimberly Farr

A kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American family—steadfast, complicated, begrudging, and loving—from the bestselling author of Isola

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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Praise for This Is Not About Us

“Goodman delivers a bighearted linked story collection about a family’s travails. . . . Each story succeeds on its own; taken together, they reveal how a family’s bonds are shaped and tested by tradition as well as by each individual’s recurring patterns. In their messiness and constant striving for harmony, the Rubensteins are wholly relatable. This is one to treasure.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A beautiful story of generations of a complicated family.”—Town & Country

“Goodman offers an unsparingly frank, wryly funny take on a multigenerational American family. Almost exactly one year after the publication of Goodman’s wonderful work of historical fiction, Isola, the author returns with a very different novel—yet one that is no less insightful, enthralling, and eminently enjoyable to read. . . . Like an exquisitely baked apple cake, Goodman’s delicious and deeply perceptive novel is something to savor.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Goodman overlaps characters and storylines, repeatedly, from different perspectives and the reader is treated to experiencing the family as a symphony, not necessarily a harmonious arrangement, but satisfying all the same as an excellent read.”—Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews


Praise for the work of Allegra Goodman

“Full of wit and spark . . . Irresistible and arresting.”—The New York Times Book Review

“I can't think of anyone else who manages that precarious tone so well, balanced with Zenlike tranquillity between genuine mirth and heartfelt despair. She describes modern life . . . without a drop of bitterness. . . . Goodman is a fantastically fluid writer, and yet for all her skill, she’s a humble, transparent one who stays out of the way, never drawing attention to her style or cleverness.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“These characters and the situations they find themselves in are so authentic and familiar, we respond to them as though they are family. They get under our skin, make us roll our eyes, get us snorting with laughter and recognition.”—The Boston Globe