The Interestings

A sweeping American novel about friendship, talent and growing up

By: Meg Wolitzer

Narrated by: Jen Tullock

Whatever became of the most talented people you once knew?


On a warm summer night in 1974, six teenagers play at being cool. They smoke pot, drink vodka, share their dreams and vow always to be interesting.

Decades later, aspiring actress Jules has resigned herself to a more practical occupation; Cathy has stopped dancing; Jonah has laid down his guitar and Goodman has disappeared. Only Ethan and Ash, now married, have remained true to their adolescent dreams and have become shockingly successful too. As the group’s fortunes tilt precipitously, their friendships are put under the ultimate strain of envy and crushing disappointment.


‘The wit, intelligence and deep feeling of Wolitzer’s writing are extraordinary and The Interestings brings her achievement, already so steadfast and remarkable, to an even higher level’ Jeffrey Eugenides

Critic reviews

This is a wonderful book. Intelligent and subtle, it is exquisitely written with enormous warmth and depth of emotion… But what makes The Interestings exceptional is the precision and elegance of Wolitzer’s writing… This should be the novel to make Wolitzer a household name here too (Kate Mosse)

Wolitzer is a writer of prodigious energy and detail, with the knack for comic-satirical perceptions of character and culture (Rachel Cusk)

A complex, cleverly interwoven analysis of the moment when the lives of six friends begin to unravel’ (Viv Groskop)

Wolitzer has a knack for homing in on the kind of pretension-puncturing details that can sum up a minor character in a single sentence (Hepzibah Anderson)

Meg Wolitzer writes fluently about the American Dream and whether you should surrender your goals to reality in this wonderful novel

I love Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings because it’s sprawling and beautifully written and it opens at a summer camp. It’s a truly great novel about friendship, and how it deepens and changes over the years (David Sedaris)

A breakout book (Allison Pearson)

If you enjoy the introspective aspects of Virginia Woolf or the American modernity of Jennifer Egan, you’ll love this sweeping, tragicomic novel of ideas

One of those generation-defining America novels that tackles big historical issues

Full of wit

An amazing listening experience. Very well written

The language is very authentic and leads you to associate closely with the main characters .