Grief is for People: A Memoir

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Potent and propulsive, a lyrical meditation on loss and what comes after - TARA WESTOVER

For most of her adult life, Sloane and Russell worked together and played together as they navigated the corridors of office life, the literary world, and the dramatic cultural shifts in New York City. One day, while Russell is still alive, Sloane's apartment is broken into. Along with her most prized possessions, the thief makes off with her sense of security, leaving a mystery in its place.

When Russell dies exactly one month later, his suicide propels her on a wild quest to right the unrightable, to explore what constitutes family and possession as the city itself faces the staggering toll brought on by the pandemic.

Crosley's search for truth is frank, darkly funny, and gilded with a resounding empathy. Upending the 'grief memoir' in this deeply moving and surprisingly suspenseful portrait of friendship, Grief Is for People is a category-defying story of the struggle to hold on to the past without being consumed by it. A modern elegy, it is a book about loss packed with verve for life, rising precisely to console and challenge our notions of mourning during these grief-stricken times.

Reviews

'A marvelously tender memoir on suicide and loss' - Kirkus Reviews

'Exposing the magical thinking and murk that follow a friend's suicide ... honest, painful and bitingly funny, I can't imagine a better companion to guide us through the pain of losing a friend; I will be keeping it close for years to come' - Meghan O'Rourke, author of 'The Invisible Kingdom'

'I have come to rely on Sloane Crosley for her oyster knife humour, bourbon hot observation, and indelible portraits of how we live with each other [but this] about how we live without the ones we love ... it is the book I didn't know I needed to read' - Tayari Jones, author of 'An American Marriage'

'Is it wrong to say that a memoir about loss and grieving is fun to read If so, I'm in trouble, because I enjoyed every word of this book. I also ached and suffered along with Crosley: her portrait of mourning after the suicide of her best friend is gutting and deeply engaging' - Susan Orlean, author of 'The Orchid Thief'

'Potent and propulsive, a lyrical meditation on loss and what comes after. Grief Is for People is heartbreaking and wholly original' - Tara Westover, author of 'Educated'

Author Bio

Sloane Crosley is the author of the New York Times bestselling essay collections, I Was Told There'd Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number, as well as the bestselling novel, The Clasp. Her work has appeared in the Guardian, New Yorker, Esquire, Vogue, New York Times Magazine and on NPR. She is a contributing editor at Interview Magazine and Vanity Fair and lives in Manhattan, New York.