We All Want Impossible Things

A Novel

By: Catherine Newman

Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer

Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

“Catherine Newman sees the heartbreak and comedy of life with wisdom and unflinching compassion. The way she finds the extraordinary in the everyday is nothing short of poetry. She’s a writer’s writer—and a human’s human.”—New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center

“A riotously funny and fiercely loyal love letter to female friendship. The story of Edi and Ash proves that a best friend is a gift from the gods. Newman turns her prodigious talents toward finding joy even in the friendship’s final days. I laughed while crying, and was left revived. Newman is a comic masterhand and a dazzling philosopher of the day-to-day.”—Amity Gaige, author of Sea Wife

“The funniest, most joyful book about dying—and living—that I have ever read.”—KJ Dell'Antonia, author of the New York Times bestselling The Chicken Sisters

For lovers of Meg Wolitzer, Maria Semple, and Jenny Offill comes this raucous, poignant celebration of life, love, and friendship at its imperfect and radiant best.

Edith and Ashley have been best friends for over forty-two years. They’ve shared the mundane and the momentous together: trick or treating and binge drinking; Gilligan’s Island reruns and REM concerts; hickeys and heartbreak; surprise Scottish wakes; marriages, infertility, and children. As Ash says, “Edi’s memory is like the back-up hard drive for mine.”

But now the unthinkable has happened. Edi is dying of ovarian cancer and spending her last days at a hospice near Ash, who stumbles into heartbreak surrounded by her daughters, ex(ish) husband, dear friends, a poorly chosen lover (or two), and a rotating cast of beautifully, fleetingly human hospice characters.

As The Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack blasts all day long from the room next door, Edi and Ash reminisce, hold on, and try to let go. Meanwhile, Ash struggles with being an imperfect friend, wife, and parent—with life, in other words, distilled to its heartbreaking, joyful, and comedic essence.

For anyone who’s ever lost a friend or had one. Get ready to laugh through your tears.

©2022 Catherine Newman (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Beautiful heartbreak

Incredible and utterly heartbreaking. I adore the way Catherine writes about her love, it's so often what I feel but cannot put into words.

Beautifully written story

A sad but realistic tale. This book is beautifully written, both poignant and humorous. The author is very talented and I appreciated the realistic characters.

Emotional read

I enjoyed this book about best friends, loss, and all the things that make us human. The main character, Ash, is self-deprecating and charming, although she’s a bit of a hot mess.
She’s going through a divorce, losing her best friend, and she’s also a loving and kind person who sometimes is too self- absorbed.
As a nurse, I sometimes found the descriptions of the Hospice and medical staff cringey, but I mostly tried to ignore it.
The narrator’s voice captured all of Ash’s emotions perfectly.

Great story Be ready for laughter and a good cry

Very emotional but a good listen I enjoyed this book of it’s entirety. Good narration

I wish I could give it 6 stars!

What a book!!!! I would give it 6 stars if I could. It encapsulates all the wonders of our lives—friendship, love, illness and death. The author draws on their complexities but in a raw and beautiful manner. I love her analogies and metaphors for something as simple as the receipts in her coat pocket. I especially loved the elaborate description of their meals and the beauty of food and it’s way of uniting everyone—“her people.”

Do not be steered by thinking this book is about death. It is truly about LIFE. A must read.

When your bff goes into hospice...

This story resonated with me in so many ways. “We All Want Impossible Things” by Catherine Newman perfectly captures the emotional rollercoaster that happens when a loved one goes into hospice. In this story, the narrator Ashley (Ash) is helping her best friend die in hospice. Edi (Edith) has ovarian cancer that finally got the best of her. Of course, Edi is young and has a seven-year-old son, which makes it more tragic. The story is Ash’s though, it’s her lens we are filtered through. It was Ash with whom I identified….trying to be supportive, fighting your own grief, reminiscing, laughing, being maudlin, cry-laughing….all in the same moment.

My experiences involved both my parents. My dad was 63, which is young, and my mom was 71. For parents, they died young. It was heart-wrenching. This story is about watching your contemporary, who: experienced adulting with you; who made similar growing mistakes; who has a son the same age as your children….. die. Doesn’t this sound tragic? It is! But, with Catherine Newman’s skill, we live through it in the way that shows the beauty of life and the beauty of dying. We get a birds-eye view of the inner sanctum of hospice.

Humor is necessary in maintaining a healthy soundness of mind. For example, Ash found out there was a waiting list to get into one hospice. Don’t they understand the concept of hospice? Sorry, maybe next time! Or the part that someone plays “Fiddler On The Roof” every afternoon. Ash is separated from her ex-husband, and she finds intimate solace with Edi’s care team, even a family member (awkward). It’s even more awkward when her teenage daughter catches her….ewe…gross MOM!!

As Ash reminisces of her life with Edi, and her life in general, we are treated to a glimpse of the life of a woman who struggles like the rest of us. The beauty of the story though, are the realistically beautiful scenes of friendship and love. You’ll cry laugh.

I listened to the audio narrated by the wonderful Jane Oppenheimer. She was brilliant narrating the story.

This has been billed as a “riotously funny and fiercely loyal love letter to female friendship.” I agree.

heartbreaking yet beautiful and hilarious story

I laughed and cried following this beautiful story of two best friends dealing with a terminal diagnosis.

A beautiful story about friendship, love, and loss.

I initially was reluctant to continue listening to this story. I told myself I wasn’t in the mood for anything teary and heartbreaking. But, I could not stop listening! The story is beautifully written about friendship, love, loss, mourning, and recognizing and appreciating our lives.

Joyfully heart-wrenching

Newman is the cleverest, funniest, feeling-est friend you never met. I was crying and laughing most of the time.

STUNNING- ABSOLUTE PERFECTION

Such a beautiful portrait of the untimely slow crawl through hospice through the eyes of the patient’s bestie. The immense love captured on every page pairs well with the unexpected but appropriate moments of comedic relief. Heartbreaking but also moments of laughter. My review isn’t doing this book justice. Just go read it you will not regret.