The Sane One

A Memoir by the Co-creator of Pen15

By: Anna Konkle

Narrated by: Anna Konkle

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In a coming-of-age memoir that’s “equal parts hysterical and moving” (Marie Claire), the co-creator of Hulu’s brilliant Pen15 grapples with the reappearance of her estranged father—and whether it’s possible to reconnect before it’s too late.

“Anna Konkle is generous enough to bring her comic sensibilities to a story that could have well have been a tragedy. She speaks for all the ‘sane ones’ out there who never agreed to play that part.”—Amy Sedaris

Throughout Anna Konkle’s childhood, her father was her hero—a hyper-charismatic, larger-than-life human resource manager at 7-Eleven. But their closeness was constantly interrupted by the screaming matches and heavy silences between him and her mother, eventually culminating in a bitter divorce that literally split the family house down the middle, with one parent on each side.

College felt like freedom, and Anna filled her time searching for the husband she’d never divorce and the orgasm she’d never had, while waiting tables at fancy restaurants and getting lackluster acting gigs, the strangest of which had her working celebrity Halloween parties. But just as she begins to thrive, her father starts to struggle. Not long after she moves to LA to pursue acting and writing, her dad’s increasingly erratic behavior forces her to cut off contact with him, until, years later, he knocks at her door.

Written in intimately beautiful prose, The Sane One is a tragicomic memoir of growing up, falling apart, getting older, and trying to come back together while there’s still time.

LOVE

Powerful and emotional - a great insight into the life of the author with fun and serious moments

Took me a minute to get into but overall enjoyed

Enjoyed the second much more than the first. Very good reflection on complex relationships with fathers

heartbreaking

I sobbed. incredible-- can't recommend it enough. it starts one way and transforms into something so much deeper. way to go, Anna.

Heartbreaking and beautiful

This was such a relatable, honest, and thoughtful memoir. I loved every moment of it, even if some parts were painful to hear. Thank you Anna for sharing your incredible talent with us.

Amazing, emotional, relatable, and funny

What more can I say? It touches on the complex emotions of dealing with an unstable home, growing up as the adult when you are the child, the wonderful awkwardness of being a teenager and young adult. And wonderful spoken. The author reading this herself adds the emotional and at times deadpan deliveries that can easily make you cry. Of laughter or deep relatable sadness. Very cathartic listen. Would not only recommend buying, would recommend buying twice