This unfussy humanity has made Attenberg my go-to author whenever I need to break a longstanding fiction slump.Īfter reading an early copy of All This Could Be Yours, I talked about the book with friends-two who had read it and many more who had not-about the effect it had on me. Never idealized and often prickly, they never ring false to the reader. Her novels track the actions of a series of fully developed characters. These are books lead not so much by plot, but by emotional honesty.
Each book is marked by a desire to resolve broken ties, not necessarily by means of reconciliation but through a journey to greater understanding. Over the course of her career, Jami Attenberg has written seven books, including her most recent novel All This Could Be Yours. SEE ALSO: The Problem With Meghan Daum’s ‘The Problem With Everything’ Attenberg’s deft hand reminded me of E.M. Finishing the book in a secret garden tucked between office buildings, I was hungry to read another novel.
Their desires and conflicts felt real even if they didn’t resemble my own. The characters were wholly realized, vivid and tragic, but not without a sense of humor. Through its characters and their obsessions, I found myself wrestling with their demons instead of my own.
What broke this streak of mediocre books was Jami Attenberg’s The Middlesteins.Ī book about a Midwestern Jewish family confronting a domestic crisis, The Middlesteins wasn’t a beach read and it didn’t shed too much light on my single woman, working life in Manhattan. It wasn’t clear if I wanted a book that would help me escape a challenging season or if I wanted a book that would help me better face reality. Half-heartedly read novels piled up in a stack by my bedside. Several years ago, I found myself in a reading slump. All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg.
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