Break in Case of Emergency

By: Jessica Winter

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

An irreverent and deeply moving comedy set in New York about friendship, fertility and fighting for one's sanity in a toxic workplace.

Jen has reached her early 30s and has all but abandoned a once-promising painting career when, spurred by the economic crisis, she takes a poorly defined job at a feminist nonprofit. The foundation's aim is to empower women, but staffers spend all their time devising acronyms for imaginary programs, ruthlessly undermining one another and stroking the ego of their boss, the larger-than-life celebrity philanthropist Leora Infinitas. Jen's complicity in this passive-aggressive hellscape only intensifies her feelings of inferiority compared to her two best friends - one a wealthy attorney with a picture-perfect family, the other a passionately committed artist - and so does Jen's apparent inability to have a baby, a source of existential panic that begins to affect her marriage and her already precarious status at the office.

Jessica Winter's ferociously intelligent debut novel is a wry satire that explores the difficulty of navigating friendships as they shift to accommodate marriage and family and the unspoken tensions that can strain even the strongest bonds.

©2016 Jessica Winter (P)2016 Penguin Random House

Critic reviews

"If you need a New York map of our times, have Jessica Winter become your cartographer. Sassy, sarcastic and sleek, this is a wonderfully brash appraisal of how we live" (National Book Award winner Colum McCann)
"Jessica Winter nails the moment in your life when you go from 'young' to 'no longer young' - that see-saw teetering point between your 20s and 30s, and its specific mix of ignorance you'll be embarrassed by later, and confidence you'll someday wish you could have back. If you're wondering what it's like to live in New York when you're young, just buy Jessica Winter's book. It's funny, satirical, and deftly written. And it's much cheaper than a 2-bedroom in Brooklyn." (Mike Schur, cocreator of Parks and Recreation)
"Extremely funny - a satirical masterpiece that is tender and existentially-minded as well. I loved it!" (Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen)