Marrying the Ketchups: A novel

by Jennifer Close

Hardcover, 2022

Call number

FIC CLO

Collection

Publication

Knopf (2022), 320 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML:An irresistible comedy of manners about three generations of a Chicago restaurant family and the deep-fried, beer-battered, cream cheese-frosted love that feeds them allâ??from the best-selling author of Girls in White Dresses   â??Laugh-out-loud funny, and deeply resonant to our times. I was so happy to be in the Sullivan familyâ??s Chicago bar, caught in the swirl of three generations of grudges, love affairs and fraught personal decisions.â?ť â??Ann Napolitano, best-selling author of Dear Edward Here are the three things the Sullivan family knows to be true: the Chicago Cubs will always be the underdogs; historical progress is inevitable; and their grandfather, Bud, founder of JP Sullivanâ??s, will always make the best burgers in Oak Park. But when, over the course of three strange months, the Cubs win the World Series, Trump is elected president, and Bud drops dead, suddenly everyone in the family finds themselves doubting all they hold dear.   Take Gretchen for example, lead singer for a â??90s cover band who has been flirting with fame for a decade but is beginning to wonder if sheâ??s too old to be chasing a childish dream. Or Jane, Gretchenâ??s older sister, who is starting to suspect that her fitness-obsessed husband who hides the screen of his phone isnâ??t always â??working late.â?ť And then thereâ??s Teddy, their steadfast, unfailingly good cousin, nursing heartbreak and confusion because the guy who dumped him keeps showing up for lunch at JP Sullivanâ??s where Teddy is the manager. How can any of them be expected to make the right decisions when the world feels sidewaysâ??and the bartender at JP Sullivanâ??s makes such strong cocktails?   Outrageously funny and wickedly astute, Marrying the Ketchups is a delicious confection by one of… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member cdyankeefan
I absolutely loved this. Set against the backdrop of the Cubs World Series win, the Sullivan’s run a restaurant that is a mainstay in their Oak Park, Illinois neighborhood. The Sullivan’s struggle with their own interpersonal demons and are often contentious in their relationships with each
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other. What I loved about this is how relatable the characters are and the humor that runs through this is delightful
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LibraryThing member Cats57
This book was not incredibly fabulous. However, it was readable, and even though a lot of it made me very angry and I was ready to give up at 50%, I kept reading, thinking there would be a great ending since so many people loved this book. I was wrong.

Politics and being woke were brought up just
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too many times to seem natural. In my opinion, hatred on either side of the political parties shouldn't be so extreme in a book that is supposed to be fun to read.

Most of the characters were supposed to be adults. But, unfortunately, they didn't act that way, and they didn't grow very much.

*ARC provided by Netgalley, the publisher Knopf/Penguin Random House, and the author.
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LibraryThing member bearette24
I really enjoyed this story about a Chicago restaurant family. It was full of funny and true observations.
LibraryThing member Hccpsk
When the patriarch and heart of their family restaurant, Bud Sullivan, passes away, the rest of the family struggles to keep it all together. Marrying the Ketchups follows Bud’s three grandchildren — Jane, Gretchen, and Teddy — as they try to figure out their careers, love lives, and the
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family dynamics at the Chicago restaurant. Marrying the Ketchups is a funny, thoughtful family novel for readers who enjoy Emma Straub, Kevin Wilson, and Taylor Jenkins Reid.
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LibraryThing member ccayne
Well written, fun read about a restaurant family in Chicago. A perfect light book with a variety of characters.
LibraryThing member shazjhb
First world problems. Amazing what you can do if you have family money. Everyone was so whinny. However, some of the background parts of the story were great.
LibraryThing member mchwest
All I can say over and over again about this book is I beg Jennifer Close to have a sequel for the story of this family and their spectacular restaurant. I also can't believe what a gifted and funny writer she is, I haven't laughed out loud like that forever!

Pages

320

ISBN

0525658874 / 9780525658870
Page: 0.4577 seconds