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Available
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Publication
Riverhead Books (2020), 368 pages
Description
"When Astrid Strick witnesses a school bus accident in the center of town, it jostles loose a repressed memory from her young parenting days, decades years earlier. Suddenly, Astrid realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she'd been to her three, now-grown children. But to what consequence? Astrid's youngest son is drifting and unfocused, making parenting mistakes of his own. Her daughter is intentionally pregnant yet struggling to give up her own adolescence. And her eldest seems to measure his adult life according to standards no one else shares. But who gets to decide, so many years later, which long-ago lapses were the ones that mattered? Who decides which apologies really count? It might be that only Astrid's 13-year-old granddaughter and her new friend really understand the courage it takes to tell the truth to the people you love the most. In All Adults Here, Emma Straub's unique alchemy of wisdom, humor and insight come together in a deeply satisfying story about adult siblings, aging parents, high school boyfriends, middle school mean girls, the lifelong effects of birth order, and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member novelcommentary
Emma Straub is new to me, but I look forward to exploring her other books after finishing All Adults Here. This was the kind of heartwarming story that made me look forward to my typical morning reading. Life in the Strick family would probably have gone on without excitement if not for the tragic
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But she did not invite intimacy the way that Porter had observed in other mothers.
Cecelia looked more like her father, with a wavy nose and soft brown hair that looked blondish if you weren’t standing anywhere near an actual blond person.
The cruelest part of becoming middle-aged was that it came on the heels of one’s own youth, not some other, better youth, and that it was too late to start over.
Like a stuffed animal on a teenager’s bed, his days were numbered.
In the months since Porter had seen her last, Cecelia had become a teenager and was slumping toward indifference to most things, right on schedule.
Elliot’s kids were actual monsters, creatures who would no doubt go on to commit duplicitous and mean-spirited white-collar crimes, but Cecelia was probably the number one reason that Porter wanted to have a baby—to have someone this smart, this funny, this thoughtful in your life, and have them be obligated to love you forever. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to clone her, adopt her, or be her. Maybe all three.
She had heard that pregnancy made women horny, but until this moment, it had seemed unreasonable, as she had heretofore been horny only for antacids and Saltines.
Dreams didn’t mean anything. Nicky thought they did, but Nicky had always been so good-looking that he believed in all kinds of things that less good-looking people weren’t allowed to believe in, because people would laugh at them. No one laughed at gorgeous white men. It was a design flaw in the universe.
Nicky had always been a leaf in a river, content to float. His ease in his own skin had made him irresistible to other people, all his life. Elliot was the opposite—he tried so hard to be big enough, smart enough, charming enough, that he was none of the three.
Of course, now the girls were even worse, and the boys at her old school now seemed like stuffed animals in comparison, docile idiots for whom pizza solved any emotional difficulty.
When the apocalypse came, there would be only old women left, with hard candy and clementines in their bags.
Parents knew that the hardest part of parenthood was figuring out how to do the right thing twenty-four hours a day, forever, and surviving all the times you failed.
Everyone made mistakes, especially when they were full of hormones and lust, the molten core of every teenage girl.
her bangs winging out to the sides like a host on the Home Shopping Network, a woman who had found Her Look in 1984 and was sticking with it, come hell or high water.
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death of Barbara Baker, who in the first chapter gets hit by a bus. Something about that event sparks in Astrid, a widow, mother of three grown children, to seize the day and announce her affection and relationship with her hairdresser, Birdie. Astrid describes her haircutter as “human sunshine: bright, warm, sometimes harsh, but always good for one’s mood.” The NYT's feels that "Literary sunshine” is a good way to think of Straub’s work. Her daughter, Porter, is happy for her while her oldest son, Elliot is upset. Her other son, Nicky lives in the city but has sent his only daughter, Cecelia, to live with Astrid to escape some uncomfortable happenings in her middle school. During the course of the novel we get to know the whole family. Each have chapters dedicated to their personal dilemmas and each are nicely drawn. Cecelia starting a new school is my favorite. Other plot lines regarding LGBTQ issues and school age dramas are intermingled with the subtle tension in the family about past conversations and favoritisms. It's a family worth knowing and I so I found my mornings doing just that, living for awhile in the literary sunshine.Lines
But she did not invite intimacy the way that Porter had observed in other mothers.
Cecelia looked more like her father, with a wavy nose and soft brown hair that looked blondish if you weren’t standing anywhere near an actual blond person.
The cruelest part of becoming middle-aged was that it came on the heels of one’s own youth, not some other, better youth, and that it was too late to start over.
Like a stuffed animal on a teenager’s bed, his days were numbered.
In the months since Porter had seen her last, Cecelia had become a teenager and was slumping toward indifference to most things, right on schedule.
Elliot’s kids were actual monsters, creatures who would no doubt go on to commit duplicitous and mean-spirited white-collar crimes, but Cecelia was probably the number one reason that Porter wanted to have a baby—to have someone this smart, this funny, this thoughtful in your life, and have them be obligated to love you forever. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to clone her, adopt her, or be her. Maybe all three.
She had heard that pregnancy made women horny, but until this moment, it had seemed unreasonable, as she had heretofore been horny only for antacids and Saltines.
Dreams didn’t mean anything. Nicky thought they did, but Nicky had always been so good-looking that he believed in all kinds of things that less good-looking people weren’t allowed to believe in, because people would laugh at them. No one laughed at gorgeous white men. It was a design flaw in the universe.
Nicky had always been a leaf in a river, content to float. His ease in his own skin had made him irresistible to other people, all his life. Elliot was the opposite—he tried so hard to be big enough, smart enough, charming enough, that he was none of the three.
Of course, now the girls were even worse, and the boys at her old school now seemed like stuffed animals in comparison, docile idiots for whom pizza solved any emotional difficulty.
When the apocalypse came, there would be only old women left, with hard candy and clementines in their bags.
Parents knew that the hardest part of parenthood was figuring out how to do the right thing twenty-four hours a day, forever, and surviving all the times you failed.
Everyone made mistakes, especially when they were full of hormones and lust, the molten core of every teenage girl.
her bangs winging out to the sides like a host on the Home Shopping Network, a woman who had found Her Look in 1984 and was sticking with it, come hell or high water.
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LibraryThing member KateVane
Astrid Strick is the matriarch of a middle-class family in Clapham, a small town in New York State. She is having an ordinary day until she is confronted by the sudden death of a neighbour who she didn’t even consider a friend.
This brush with mortality leads her to make a life-changing decision
All Adults Here is a light and engaging read, but it is by no means trivial. It asks some profound questions about identity, how we’re shaped by our past and how the love of family and community can be a bind as well as a joy.
Astrid’s eldest child, Elliott, runs a business in the town. He is successful but somehow not the person he thought he would be. He feels unable to escape people’s expectations of him, particularly in a small town where everyone has known him all his life.
His sister, Porter, also has a very different business and lives nearby. Porter is single but is thinking now is her last chance to have a child. Looking forward to parenthood leads her to have one final fling with her past.
Nicky, the son who got away, has his identity trapped in a different way. As a young man he starred in a small independent movie which gained a cult following, and everywhere he goes he is recognised, forever viewed as the character he played.
All Adults Here asks some searching questions about parenthood. Elliott is struggling to adjust to life with baby twins. Nicky, the father of a teenager, thinks his charm and easy-going manner are enough to get him through. Porter is preparing a life for her child that will be different from her own conventional upbringing.
For Astrid, parenthood seems to be life without parole. She is still intimately involved with her children’s lives, or, in the case of Nicky, wishing she was. She is eaten up with regrets for things said and done – or things she failed to say and do.
There are a lot of novels about (and by!) children who think their lives have been ruined by their messed-up parents but not so many about the reverse. In All Adults Here, the eternal burden of being a parent is laid bare.
The ending was perhaps a little too sweet and neat for my taste. While I’m quite prepared to believe that people have life-changing moments, it’s a little convenient when half-a-dozen of them all have one at the same time.
However this is, as the New York Times blurb says, literary sunshine rather than social realism. If you’re looking for a holiday read which is light and engaging but also has some substance, this would be a good choice.
*
I received a copy of All Adults Here from the publisher via Netgalley.
This brush with mortality leads her to make a life-changing decision
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which has implications for all her family. Meanwhile her children and granddaughter are going through crises of their own. The events of the coming weeks cause them all to reassess their relationships.All Adults Here is a light and engaging read, but it is by no means trivial. It asks some profound questions about identity, how we’re shaped by our past and how the love of family and community can be a bind as well as a joy.
Astrid’s eldest child, Elliott, runs a business in the town. He is successful but somehow not the person he thought he would be. He feels unable to escape people’s expectations of him, particularly in a small town where everyone has known him all his life.
His sister, Porter, also has a very different business and lives nearby. Porter is single but is thinking now is her last chance to have a child. Looking forward to parenthood leads her to have one final fling with her past.
Nicky, the son who got away, has his identity trapped in a different way. As a young man he starred in a small independent movie which gained a cult following, and everywhere he goes he is recognised, forever viewed as the character he played.
All Adults Here asks some searching questions about parenthood. Elliott is struggling to adjust to life with baby twins. Nicky, the father of a teenager, thinks his charm and easy-going manner are enough to get him through. Porter is preparing a life for her child that will be different from her own conventional upbringing.
For Astrid, parenthood seems to be life without parole. She is still intimately involved with her children’s lives, or, in the case of Nicky, wishing she was. She is eaten up with regrets for things said and done – or things she failed to say and do.
There are a lot of novels about (and by!) children who think their lives have been ruined by their messed-up parents but not so many about the reverse. In All Adults Here, the eternal burden of being a parent is laid bare.
The ending was perhaps a little too sweet and neat for my taste. While I’m quite prepared to believe that people have life-changing moments, it’s a little convenient when half-a-dozen of them all have one at the same time.
However this is, as the New York Times blurb says, literary sunshine rather than social realism. If you’re looking for a holiday read which is light and engaging but also has some substance, this would be a good choice.
*
I received a copy of All Adults Here from the publisher via Netgalley.
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LibraryThing member jmchshannon
Y'all. I love Emma Straub as a person and author. She is adorable in her online presence, and visiting her bookstore is on my bucket list. Plus, her writing style is perfection. She truly gets people and captures the most intricate nuances in her characters and settings. All Adults Here is another
The thing is, while I can appreciate just how well Ms. Straub writes and how amazing her stories are, including her newest book, I realized once and for all that I don't like to read family dramas. They do nothing for me. In fact, they make me feel uncomfortable as if I am a total creeper voyeur spying on someone else's life. Plus, they don't help me escape my own life when I read. Parental drama makes me think about my own parents. Sibling drama makes me think about my brother. It is the exact opposite of why I read.
I am someone who reads to escape, so I want worlds that are unfamiliar, lives so not like mine as to be foreign. Ms. Straub in All Adults Here does not provide me with that. Her setting of a fictional town in New York feels universal and could be any small town in America. Similarly, the Strick family is normal, filled with the same doubts, bad choices, trauma, secrets, and flaws that make up any family. It isn't escapism so much as it is a confirmation and potential comfort that you are not alone in your family's weirdness or issues.
I get why such novels are popular, and I truly believe that All Adults Here is a gorgeous story. Unfortunately, it did nothing for me, and I was really happy when I finished it so that I could move onto something weird and fantastical. But this is me. Fans of such dramas are going to go ga-ga over this novel, and rightly so.
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great example of her ability to create stories that are as real as anything you will come across in your everyday life.The thing is, while I can appreciate just how well Ms. Straub writes and how amazing her stories are, including her newest book, I realized once and for all that I don't like to read family dramas. They do nothing for me. In fact, they make me feel uncomfortable as if I am a total creeper voyeur spying on someone else's life. Plus, they don't help me escape my own life when I read. Parental drama makes me think about my own parents. Sibling drama makes me think about my brother. It is the exact opposite of why I read.
I am someone who reads to escape, so I want worlds that are unfamiliar, lives so not like mine as to be foreign. Ms. Straub in All Adults Here does not provide me with that. Her setting of a fictional town in New York feels universal and could be any small town in America. Similarly, the Strick family is normal, filled with the same doubts, bad choices, trauma, secrets, and flaws that make up any family. It isn't escapism so much as it is a confirmation and potential comfort that you are not alone in your family's weirdness or issues.
I get why such novels are popular, and I truly believe that All Adults Here is a gorgeous story. Unfortunately, it did nothing for me, and I was really happy when I finished it so that I could move onto something weird and fantastical. But this is me. Fans of such dramas are going to go ga-ga over this novel, and rightly so.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
I didn’t like this book as much as I expected to enjoy it. I love books that deal with ordinary people and the struggles families, even with adult children, deal with. The main character, Astrid, is a widow and she spends a lot of time worrying about what she did wrong as a parent. The story is
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told in alternating voices of Astrid, her two sons and one daughter as well as her granddaughter who has come to live with Gamma for the school year There’s a lot to deal with in this family and sadly, it didn’t keep my attention as I expected it to do. . Of all the family characters in the book I thought Cecelia, the 8th grade granddaughter had the most integrity. I enjoyed the story and genuinely loved the ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
All Adults Here: A Novel, Emma Straub, author; Emily Rankin, narrator
The book immerses the reader into several serious areas of discussion, like parenting, single motherhood, sexual preference of many types, bullying, selfishness, loss, guilt, infidelity, and more. It does it very well with just
There are many characters in Astrid Strick’s extended family, all of whom, including Astrid, lead lives that are stifled and unfulfilled. None seem to have matured into fully developed adults. All have relationship problems that need to be worked out.
Astrid has three children who have not reached their potential. Each is going through a life crisis. Elliot is having issues with his twin boys who are incorrigibly wild, and he has unfulfilled dreams of being a developer. He over-questions all his decisions. Nicky is almost too affable. He is having trouble with his teen-aged daughter, Cecelia, who has had her own life crisis. Rather than take a stand to defend her innocence, he and his wife let her take the fall for the girl who betrayed her. Porter is lonely and wants to be fulfilled by having a child as a single mother. She uses a sperm bank to become pregnant. She has been involved in an illicit love affair and is very childish in her reactions to all her problems. Astrid, after witnessing the death of a quasi-friend, begins to question everything in her life including her secrets about her sexuality. August, a teenager and friend of Cecelia, believes that there is another person living inside of him that prefers a different sex. All in all, these are an odd mix of people, each with secrets, each in their own way trying to forge his or her own identity, often without thinking about the consequences of their actions upon others.
Although they are not always likable, the deft touch of the author makes them very acceptable and almost endears them to the reader, in the end. As the reader watches each character come of age, not as youngsters, but as adults, the punishments often do not fit the “crime”, and so the story becomes somewhat of a fairytale.
I really felt that I was kidnapped by a disingenuous advertising campaign, because nowhere did I read that there would be so many issues about sexual confusion or that there would be such foul language in this book. If a book has to be described falsely, without including so important a subject as sexual proclivity, in order to attract an unwitting audience, perhaps the themes being written about are merely being written about to promote the author’s personal, progressive agenda. I was not that comfortable reading about lesbian relationships, transgender teens or homosexual experimentation. It is disingenuous to snare a reader under false pretenses.
That said, the author did an admirable job describing the struggles of those who march to the beat of a different drummer, whether it is standing up to bullies or experimenting with sex or choosing a sexual lifestyle other than the one that was chosen for them. Each of the character’s personal struggles leads them to an epiphany of self-discovery. It takes them to a better place in which they can like themselves, be more honest with others, and disregard the judgment of cruel people around them. They do not want to judge and do not want to be judged. Every character feels somehow slighted by the world.
Once again, I was lured into reading about an author’s political agenda and her need to brainwash the public with nasty comments about President Trump. If she wants to promote her progressive leanings, she should warn the reader. Some of us do not agree with her positions.
The book immerses the reader into several serious areas of discussion, like parenting, single motherhood, sexual preference of many types, bullying, selfishness, loss, guilt, infidelity, and more. It does it very well with just
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the right amount of humor interjected at the appropriate time. The novel underscores the need for compassion and thoughtfulness at all times regardless of the situation. Patience and kindness, will solve problems rather than create them.There are many characters in Astrid Strick’s extended family, all of whom, including Astrid, lead lives that are stifled and unfulfilled. None seem to have matured into fully developed adults. All have relationship problems that need to be worked out.
Astrid has three children who have not reached their potential. Each is going through a life crisis. Elliot is having issues with his twin boys who are incorrigibly wild, and he has unfulfilled dreams of being a developer. He over-questions all his decisions. Nicky is almost too affable. He is having trouble with his teen-aged daughter, Cecelia, who has had her own life crisis. Rather than take a stand to defend her innocence, he and his wife let her take the fall for the girl who betrayed her. Porter is lonely and wants to be fulfilled by having a child as a single mother. She uses a sperm bank to become pregnant. She has been involved in an illicit love affair and is very childish in her reactions to all her problems. Astrid, after witnessing the death of a quasi-friend, begins to question everything in her life including her secrets about her sexuality. August, a teenager and friend of Cecelia, believes that there is another person living inside of him that prefers a different sex. All in all, these are an odd mix of people, each with secrets, each in their own way trying to forge his or her own identity, often without thinking about the consequences of their actions upon others.
Although they are not always likable, the deft touch of the author makes them very acceptable and almost endears them to the reader, in the end. As the reader watches each character come of age, not as youngsters, but as adults, the punishments often do not fit the “crime”, and so the story becomes somewhat of a fairytale.
I really felt that I was kidnapped by a disingenuous advertising campaign, because nowhere did I read that there would be so many issues about sexual confusion or that there would be such foul language in this book. If a book has to be described falsely, without including so important a subject as sexual proclivity, in order to attract an unwitting audience, perhaps the themes being written about are merely being written about to promote the author’s personal, progressive agenda. I was not that comfortable reading about lesbian relationships, transgender teens or homosexual experimentation. It is disingenuous to snare a reader under false pretenses.
That said, the author did an admirable job describing the struggles of those who march to the beat of a different drummer, whether it is standing up to bullies or experimenting with sex or choosing a sexual lifestyle other than the one that was chosen for them. Each of the character’s personal struggles leads them to an epiphany of self-discovery. It takes them to a better place in which they can like themselves, be more honest with others, and disregard the judgment of cruel people around them. They do not want to judge and do not want to be judged. Every character feels somehow slighted by the world.
Once again, I was lured into reading about an author’s political agenda and her need to brainwash the public with nasty comments about President Trump. If she wants to promote her progressive leanings, she should warn the reader. Some of us do not agree with her positions.
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LibraryThing member BDartnall
This grew on me - started out like a lighter version of Olive Kitteridge - and wasn't sure I could enter in the protagonist's (Astrid Strick) emergence in midlife as a (?) bisexual woman finally ready to reveal her longtime commitment to her girlfriend - but as the author allows us to also learn
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from each of Astrid's children, their struggles/perspectives, including the 8th grade Cecilia, her granddaughter sent to live for awhile in the small town after a bullying crisis with her current city junior high... need to get the book and lift some wonderful quotes: interesting observations/insights on: the nature of small town life, siblings' in childhood through adulthood, parents' realization that they made mistakes with all their children - that understanding & forgiving oneself as well as moving into the future-not living in the past- are what we all must grapple with. Expert handling of every character - their longings, misgivings, self involved choices, - real life. Show Less
LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
So, I've been reading some really great books lately told by magnificent storytellers. Those books were engaging and had rich, complicated characters. This one did not. Just because a character is gay it does not make them interesting. I found the characters and their storylines boring. Ugh. I
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suppose this book might be a good read for someone that likes very light reads and doesn't care much about character development. Show Less
LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
This was a great book. Very interesting to see how the other reviewers on Library Thing thought of this. I always find it funny when a reviewer is surprised by the topics as if there isn't a ton of information about every book being published on the internet. Sorry, that people have problems with
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the topics that Straub deals with. Bisexuality, transgender, adultery, troubled parents, bullying kids etc. Welcome to the world. Straub creates a great family story that revolves around Astrid a 68 year old widow with 3 adult children and a relationship with her hairdresser that is going to surprise her family. Throw in a Cecilia a great 13 year old along with Austin her friend who has discovered that he is really a she. Straub has great prose full of wonderful metaphors and analogies. She tells the story through multiple characters so we get a view of everyone from different perspectives. Because I live in a small town near a big city I especially like the portrayal of the small Hudson Valley town. A strong yes to this book. I fully intend to read more by Straub. Show Less
LibraryThing member shazjhb
Very good read. Lovely interesting characters. Lesbians, transsexual, and affairs in one book.
LibraryThing member Narshkite
There is not much a plot here, but there is a lot of character development, and it is fun to watch. These people are interesting and also stunted, really stunted, and all move forward just by cracking a little. Just like Leonard Cohen said, that is how the light gets in. I enjoyed these stories,
I feel like I need to respond to a couple of criticisms here in reviews that really bothered me. The first is that Straub gratuitously throws in what some people think of as a "kitchen sink" full of provocative "modern" issues. I can't imagine that there are non-Amish parents who are not concerned about their kids connecting with pedophiles online. It happens all the time. I also cannot believe anyone lives a life that does not include interaction with people who identify as trans or gender non-binary and some who are lesbian, gay or bi, but maybe those people exist. I can say that every day of my life includes interaction with LGBT+ co-workers, neighbors, friends, and relatives even though my immediate family is made up of straight cis people. If your life does not include any interaction with LGBT+ people, I would guess that means that the people around you don't trust you enough to share their identities. In any event, this is pretty everyday stuff. Though we have moved forward it is certainly not unusual that people who are LGBT+ are bullied, especially while in school, though certainly as adults as well. So the inclusion of two plotlines that deal with characters who are LGBT+, one with the bullying of a trans teen and the other with someone publically coming out as bi, seems appropriate. No one seems to mind when 100% of the characters in a book spend their time focused on issues unique to white cis straight people, so what is the problem when perhaps 15% of the story focuses away from cisgendered heterosexual people? I recoiled when I read those comments saying these issues were props to make things seem scandalous or of-the-moment, and since I do my best to be an ally to my fellow humans who are LGBT+ I have to say, if this bothers you, that is a problem with you, not with the book.
Another line of criticism is that this book (and Straub's earlier books) focused on white, educated, economically secure people who enjoy a high degree of privilege. (Porter is the most economically privileged goat farmer you will ever find, and that is especially weird because she NEVER works.) To those commenters I say, "true" and also, "what is the issue?" Being open to hearing the voices of people from historically underrepresented groups and those from the developing world does not mean the problems of middle and upper-middle-class white people in the US, Europe and the UK are any less interesting or valid. I fit in this group, and I want to hear these stories along with the stories of people whose lived experience differs from mine. If you don't want to read about my tribe, that is cool, don't read these books, but the stories still deserve to be heard and they have an audience.
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and Straub writes them so well. This book is both fizzy and literary, and for me was a delightful escape from the closed in reality of Coronavirus.I feel like I need to respond to a couple of criticisms here in reviews that really bothered me. The first is that Straub gratuitously throws in what some people think of as a "kitchen sink" full of provocative "modern" issues. I can't imagine that there are non-Amish parents who are not concerned about their kids connecting with pedophiles online. It happens all the time. I also cannot believe anyone lives a life that does not include interaction with people who identify as trans or gender non-binary and some who are lesbian, gay or bi, but maybe those people exist. I can say that every day of my life includes interaction with LGBT+ co-workers, neighbors, friends, and relatives even though my immediate family is made up of straight cis people. If your life does not include any interaction with LGBT+ people, I would guess that means that the people around you don't trust you enough to share their identities. In any event, this is pretty everyday stuff. Though we have moved forward it is certainly not unusual that people who are LGBT+ are bullied, especially while in school, though certainly as adults as well. So the inclusion of two plotlines that deal with characters who are LGBT+, one with the bullying of a trans teen and the other with someone publically coming out as bi, seems appropriate. No one seems to mind when 100% of the characters in a book spend their time focused on issues unique to white cis straight people, so what is the problem when perhaps 15% of the story focuses away from cisgendered heterosexual people? I recoiled when I read those comments saying these issues were props to make things seem scandalous or of-the-moment, and since I do my best to be an ally to my fellow humans who are LGBT+ I have to say, if this bothers you, that is a problem with you, not with the book.
Another line of criticism is that this book (and Straub's earlier books) focused on white, educated, economically secure people who enjoy a high degree of privilege. (Porter is the most economically privileged goat farmer you will ever find, and that is especially weird because she NEVER works.) To those commenters I say, "true" and also, "what is the issue?" Being open to hearing the voices of people from historically underrepresented groups and those from the developing world does not mean the problems of middle and upper-middle-class white people in the US, Europe and the UK are any less interesting or valid. I fit in this group, and I want to hear these stories along with the stories of people whose lived experience differs from mine. If you don't want to read about my tribe, that is cool, don't read these books, but the stories still deserve to be heard and they have an audience.
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LibraryThing member dawnlovesbooks
All Adults Here by Emma Straub is my favorite kind of book. It focuses on the dysfunctional Strick family, their relationships with one another and the issues each one has to face. On the surface, it seems like there isn’t much of a plot, but if you enjoy character development as much as I do,
Astrid is the matriarch of the family and after witnessing a woman in her community being ran over and killed by a bus, she decides she needs to make things right with her grown children; “Even though whatever she’d tried to do to make it better usually made it worse.” “That was the problem with being part of a family: Everyone could mean well and it could still be a disaster. Love didn’t cure all.”
Astrid wonders, “How many things had she missed, how many choices, how many mistakes, how many heartbreaks?” She begins asking her children questions and once the family starts really talking to each other they learn all kinds of secrets.
Astrid’s three children are Porter, Nicky and Elliott. Nicky sends his daughter Cecelia to live with Astrid after something happened at her school. Cecelia becomes best friends with a transgender misfit. Porter is having a baby on her own. Elliott has bought a building in town and struggling to decide what to do with it and how his mother will react. Astrid has the biggest secret of all and is about to reveal to her children that she is in love…with a woman.
“Being an adult was like always growing new layers of skin, trying to fool yourself that the bones underneath were different too.”
The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that it included too many cliché controversial topics. It is impossible to read a book without them these days. Straub is a fantastic and witty writer and I look forward to reading more of her books.
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then you will savor each word as you get to know the quirky members of this family and learn about the hardships they have to overcome.Astrid is the matriarch of the family and after witnessing a woman in her community being ran over and killed by a bus, she decides she needs to make things right with her grown children; “Even though whatever she’d tried to do to make it better usually made it worse.” “That was the problem with being part of a family: Everyone could mean well and it could still be a disaster. Love didn’t cure all.”
Astrid wonders, “How many things had she missed, how many choices, how many mistakes, how many heartbreaks?” She begins asking her children questions and once the family starts really talking to each other they learn all kinds of secrets.
Astrid’s three children are Porter, Nicky and Elliott. Nicky sends his daughter Cecelia to live with Astrid after something happened at her school. Cecelia becomes best friends with a transgender misfit. Porter is having a baby on her own. Elliott has bought a building in town and struggling to decide what to do with it and how his mother will react. Astrid has the biggest secret of all and is about to reveal to her children that she is in love…with a woman.
“Being an adult was like always growing new layers of skin, trying to fool yourself that the bones underneath were different too.”
The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that it included too many cliché controversial topics. It is impossible to read a book without them these days. Straub is a fantastic and witty writer and I look forward to reading more of her books.
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LibraryThing member mzonderm
Some books are enjoyed because of plot, some because of characters, others because of the tone or style of the language. One might recommend this book for the plot, which moves along, or possibly even the style, which is engaging, but probably not for the characters, most of whom seem more to
But there are plot points aplenty. The book nominally centers around the matriarch of the family, who has a stunning revelation to share with her three grown children. Her middle child, and only daughter, has a very different revelation of her own, and her eldest son is struggling with a weighty decision. Her granddaughter is struggling with a new school, and the reason she left her old school. There's more than enough here to keep us turning the pages.
My biggest issue with this book is the fact that they are not, in fact, all adults. The most compelling parts of this book come from children. Eighth graders, to be specific, as they navigate the difference between secrecy and loyalty, and what it means to really be someone's friend. It is these parts of the book that had the most meat to them.
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become fully colored in, more than they grow throughout the book.But there are plot points aplenty. The book nominally centers around the matriarch of the family, who has a stunning revelation to share with her three grown children. Her middle child, and only daughter, has a very different revelation of her own, and her eldest son is struggling with a weighty decision. Her granddaughter is struggling with a new school, and the reason she left her old school. There's more than enough here to keep us turning the pages.
My biggest issue with this book is the fact that they are not, in fact, all adults. The most compelling parts of this book come from children. Eighth graders, to be specific, as they navigate the difference between secrecy and loyalty, and what it means to really be someone's friend. It is these parts of the book that had the most meat to them.
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LibraryThing member Hccpsk
Barbara Baker gets hit and killed by a bus right in front of Astrid Strick. Astrid had known (and not particularly liked) Barbara for more than 40 years, but it suddenly changes everything for Astrid, and we are lucky to witness it in Emma Straub’s All Adults Here. Short chapters told by a
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revolving door of characters from Astrid’s family reveal the drama and history of their lives rapidly, painfully and comically. If you can get past the unrealistic idea that all of these events occur to this one small family, something pretty great happens in this book. All Adults Here is full of funny observations (“They were both in their weekend attire, which meant chino shorts with belts and polo shirts. They could golf at a moment’s notice, like rich superheroes”) and poignant moments as the Stricks navigate the modern world. This is a novel about families--raising them, living with them and coming to grips with their histories to find a way forward. A highly recommended book for Straub fans and other contemporary lit readers looking for a fun but meaningful and resonant read. Show Less
LibraryThing member bobbieharv
I didn't care much for any of the characters, or the small town - in fact just didn't connect with any of it and I'm not sure why I finished it! Interesting that I downloaded a sample chapter of The Vacationers, her previous book, and didn't like it either.
LibraryThing member mcelhra
All Adults Here is a character driven novel about Astrid and her three grown children. When Astrid witnesses her frenemy Barbara get hit and killed by a school bus, she starts to reevaluate her own life choices. She wonders if it’s too late to right some of the parenting mistakes she makes when
Her oldest son is a tightly wound, somewhat bitter man. Her daughter is single and pregnant by choice and her youngest son is bohemian who is also a bit of a stoner. It’s his daughter that comes to live with Astrid.
Emma Straub writes fantastic characters. She’s able to make their inner monologues both introspective and full of wry humor. Astrid was my favorite. She had the greatest lines. Here’s one I really liked:
“She herself [Astrid] was an only child, and she found old people with siblings somewhat ridiculous, as if they were eighty-year-olds who still wore water wings in swimming pools. Siblings were for the very young and needy. She had given her children siblings to occupy each other in childhood.”
This book addresses so many facets of life, it would make a great book club selection. It’s got LGBT issues, single motherhood, adultery, bullying, death and divorce. It sounds like a lot but I didn’t think it was overloaded. Straub did a wonderful job weaving everything together in an organic way. Although the characters in All Adults Here deal with some serious problems, it never gets too heavy. You won’t feel depressed after reading it and that’s important in these times.
I’ve loved the books I’ve previously read by Emma Sraub and All Adults Here did not disappoint. Highly recommended.
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her kids were young. At the same time, her teenage granddaughter comes to live with her, giving her a chance to do things right on the first try.Her oldest son is a tightly wound, somewhat bitter man. Her daughter is single and pregnant by choice and her youngest son is bohemian who is also a bit of a stoner. It’s his daughter that comes to live with Astrid.
Emma Straub writes fantastic characters. She’s able to make their inner monologues both introspective and full of wry humor. Astrid was my favorite. She had the greatest lines. Here’s one I really liked:
“She herself [Astrid] was an only child, and she found old people with siblings somewhat ridiculous, as if they were eighty-year-olds who still wore water wings in swimming pools. Siblings were for the very young and needy. She had given her children siblings to occupy each other in childhood.”
This book addresses so many facets of life, it would make a great book club selection. It’s got LGBT issues, single motherhood, adultery, bullying, death and divorce. It sounds like a lot but I didn’t think it was overloaded. Straub did a wonderful job weaving everything together in an organic way. Although the characters in All Adults Here deal with some serious problems, it never gets too heavy. You won’t feel depressed after reading it and that’s important in these times.
I’ve loved the books I’ve previously read by Emma Sraub and All Adults Here did not disappoint. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member cherybear
Astrid struggles with trying to relate to her adult children, questions what mistakes she made in raising them, starts a new relationship, and has her granddaughter Cecelia come to live with her. She loves her family fiercely, and wants them all to be closer, but sometimes judges a little too
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quickly. Lots of complications, and interwoven stories, with great characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member ladyars
First book I got through a Goodreads giveaway after almost 10 years!
I'd recommend this book to anyone who's a mother, a father, a child, or a sibling - possibly all of those together at some point. There's something really comforting in reading about small problems and struggles of imperfect
I'd recommend this book to anyone who's a mother, a father, a child, or a sibling - possibly all of those together at some point. There's something really comforting in reading about small problems and struggles of imperfect
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characters, and I enjoyed how the author was able to portray their anxieties in a way that felt real. Because the book follows different storylines at the same time, I was left a bit unsatisfied with some of them. Show Less
LibraryThing member alanna1122
I really like Emma Straub. I follow her on Twitter and she is really funny and entertaining. I love everything I hear about her Books are Magic Bookstore. That being said - its been ages since I read a novel by her. Thanks to LibraryThing - I can look back and see that I read The Vacationers in
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2014. My review of that seems totally in line with my experience here. This is a quick peppy read. There are a bunch of characters who get fleshed out quickly and then there is LOTS of plot. Things happening left and right to everyone. I would say this is a good book to bring on a trip or to get you out of a reading rut. I did feel like my reading slowed about 2/3rds of the way through it - but honestly - that corresponded with an awful lot taking place in the national news and likely it was my own difficultly focusing that was to blame. I missed a few novels between the Vacationers and All Adults here - so I will definitely look forward to reading them when I need a little recharge in my reading life. Show Less
LibraryThing member LindaLoretz
All Adults Here was a delightful book about modern family life in a small town in the Hudson Valley. The writing is so engaging, and I found myself easily relating to the main character and matriarch, Astrid. Astrid has raised three children who are now adults. The story begins as she sees a
As the story progresses, Astrid reflects on how she has raised her children and tries to atone for mistakes she has made that have probably led to the current communication issues with each of them. Each character's baggage and secrets from childhood, young adulthood, and adulthood are gradually revealed. It turns out that Astrid has been keeping a big secret herself, and as we learn more about her offspring and her granddaughter, we recognize how complicated families are. Through the integration of story elements, which include lesbian and trans characters, use of a sperm bank, teenage bullying, deviants on the internet, and more, Emma Straub presents much food for thought. Using a nonchalant manner and natural everyday language, she shows the reader through her characters, that we need to dissect our closest relationships, those with whom we shared parts of our homes and lives before we can begin to understand others. As all of the characters experience and confront their discomforts with each other and then attempt to grow beyond them, we learn how necessary disclosures and admissions in families will lead to the communication that is so lacking in our world.
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long-time community member, Barbara, get hit by a bus while Astrid is awaiting the arrival of her thirteen-year-old granddaughter, Cecelia, who is coming to live with her after an incident at her school in Brooklyn. As the story progresses, Astrid reflects on how she has raised her children and tries to atone for mistakes she has made that have probably led to the current communication issues with each of them. Each character's baggage and secrets from childhood, young adulthood, and adulthood are gradually revealed. It turns out that Astrid has been keeping a big secret herself, and as we learn more about her offspring and her granddaughter, we recognize how complicated families are. Through the integration of story elements, which include lesbian and trans characters, use of a sperm bank, teenage bullying, deviants on the internet, and more, Emma Straub presents much food for thought. Using a nonchalant manner and natural everyday language, she shows the reader through her characters, that we need to dissect our closest relationships, those with whom we shared parts of our homes and lives before we can begin to understand others. As all of the characters experience and confront their discomforts with each other and then attempt to grow beyond them, we learn how necessary disclosures and admissions in families will lead to the communication that is so lacking in our world.
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LibraryThing member mojomomma
The matriarch discovers she likes women after being widowed some years before. One son seems to smoke marijuana to the exclusion of all else, the other son is an up-tight small business owner, and the daughter has a goat farm and a new baby on the way, conceived from a sperm donor because her true
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love is already married. A bullying incident causes the oldest granddaughter to move to her grandmother's house for Grade 8 before moving back to NYC to high school. Hijinks ensue. I enjoyed this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member MickyFine
After Astrid Strick witnesses the death of a woman she's known most of her life, she decides to be more honest with her three adult children. At the same time each of her children are facing their own challenges, which all have the potential to send their lives in new directions. Plus, Astrid's
A compelling family tale that is quiet and understated in its pacing but fascinating in its exploration of each of its characters as they continue to grow and grow up. I really enjoyed getting to know all of the Strick clan as Straub reveals facets of their lives over the course of the novel. An excellent read that I highly recommend.
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13-year old granddaughter, Cecelia, is coming to spend the school year with Astrid after drama at her old school has left Cecelia ostracized.A compelling family tale that is quiet and understated in its pacing but fascinating in its exploration of each of its characters as they continue to grow and grow up. I really enjoyed getting to know all of the Strick clan as Straub reveals facets of their lives over the course of the novel. An excellent read that I highly recommend.
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LibraryThing member Dairyqueen84
Flawed but likable characters exploring the meaning of family, love, and friendship in a Hudson Valley small town.
LibraryThing member CarrieWuj
Pleasant and humorous story along the lines of Anne Tyler because some of the situations are so ridiculous (but could happen!) and the characters' reactions are never what you anticipate. It is kind of an adult coming-of-age story - and that's part of the humor, because surely, some of these
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characters should have arrived long ago! The main character Astrid Strick is considered a capable matriarch type in her smallish town of upstate Clapham NY. But when she witnesses her (annoying) neighbor, Barb get hit and killed by a school bus, Astrid starts to question her own life, particularly how honestly she is living it. She looks both to her future, in her hidden lesbian relationship with Birdie, the town hairdresser and to her past as a mostly single mom after her husband died when her kids were just ready to fly the nest. She knows she messed up a lot, but thinks she can do better. 2 of her children live in Clapham, oldest, Elliott, a builder married to Wendy with twin toddler bratty sons. Porter is a goat farmer with her own business and is a single-mom-to be by choice. She is also having an affair with her high school boyfriend. Finally, Nicky, former actor, current free-spirit lives in NYC, but has sent his junior high daughter (one of the book's best characters!) Cecilia to live with Astrid after a school bullying incident. All three children strive for parental approval in weird ways, though Astrid never intentionally withheld it, she was just busy! And now Astrid is seeking their approval for her lifestyle. Meanwhile, Cecilia struggles through 8th grade with the help of friend August (aka Robin) who is transgender and coming out. He is the book's best example of how to live an authentic life, which is really what everyone else is seeking. Great family dynamics and drama with some surprising twists and some really heartfelt moments. A little too industrious in trying to touch on almost every current social issue, but the characters who embody them are well-rounded and developed enough to carry it. Show Less
LibraryThing member LivelyLady
Family dynamics when long time widowed mother introduces her female partner to the family. Interesting but confusing with the non -gender specific names, like Porter and August. It was OK.
Awards
Bisexual Book Award (Winner — Fiction — 2020)
Read with Jenna (2020-05 — 2020)
Original language
English
Physical description
9.27 inches
ISBN
1594634696 / 9781594634697