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Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Anxious People

by Fredrik Backman

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Readers' Rating (8):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2020, 352 pages
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Power Reviewer
Cathryn Conroy

Read This Book! It's Brilliantly Plotted, Heartwarming, and Hilarious
This is the story of a bank robber who botches the job and then inadvertently takes eight people hostage, all of whom are viewing an apartment for sale in a small town in Sweden the day before New Year's Eve. It's also the story of the two police officers—a father and a son—who end the hostage siege and then investigate the crime. And there is a lot of bridge symbolism and imagery.

Except that's not it at all.

This is the story of all those people, all those troubled, hurting, anxious people who meet and share their stories and learn so much about themselves, each other, and the point of living together on thismore
Lynne Z.

Clever and wonderful
I loved this book. Backman is a genius. So many surprises and laughs that unfold until the very end - I can't imagine how his mind works. He not only creates fascinating characters, but devises a complicated plot with every detail tied together brilliantly. I noticed the book just came out in paperback. It would be an excellent choice for an online discussion. Any chance that could happen?
Karen A. Riccio

Highly recommend
I started this book during early COVID, and couldn’t get into it. Then I had several friends say they rated this book one of their top favorites for 2020. So I revisited it . What a wonderful book. Please give it a chance, stick with it, and you will love and care about everyone of the quirky characters in this novel.
Anna Rowe

Glad I Stuck to It.
I like the way Fredrik Backman has such a distinct style but still manages to add a new flavour to it with each book he does. There was a lot going on in this book and I fell in and out of love with it a few times while I was reading it. There were moments that I thought he lost control of the plot but he always managed to pull it together again and by the end I knew that he knew exactly what he was doing the whole time. There are some good characters in the book and plenty of great dialogue and in true Backman style, he manages to make things funny and profound at the same time. Despite my ups and downs, thismore
Power Reviewer
Cloggie Downunder

Wise, insightful and blackly funny.
“…you should always be nice to other people, even idiots, because you never know how heavy their burden is.”

Anxious People is the sixth novel by Swedish author, Fredrik Backman. It is translated by Neil Smith and consists of (approx):
11 Comedy of Errors
11 Locked-room mystery
33 Social Commentary
11 Love Story
11 Slapstick/Keystone Cops
22 Philosophy
1 Farce
And 100 Backman
A small Swedish town. The young cop is frustrated. The hostages have been released unharmed, but the hostage-taker is missing, and the cop is certain that some, if not all, of the hostages are telling less than the whole truth. The big bosses frommore
Power Reviewer
Lani

A brilliant book
If Fredrik Backman knocked on my door, I would hug him to death, Covid or no Covid. This book made me indescribably happy, alternating with tears, and lots of moments laughing out of loud. I think it was one of those books that you want to clasp to your heart and never let go. It was profound but with simplistic prose as one becomes enmeshed in the characters' lives. And what a cast! A bank robber who is not a robber(You will just have to trust me on this one!), a banker, a retired couple who renovate houses, a sweet grandmother, an actor, a real estate agent, a therapist, who all become involved in a hostagemore
C. Thornton

Draining
I hated this book. Saracastic to the point of exhaustion, utterly unlikeable characters. Such angry, contemptuous, miserable people. It was draining. Frederik - please try to write a book without using "Idiots!" to describe a person, place, or thing.
BOOKS

COMPLICATED
The end is the beginning & the beginning is the end. Literally it is quite dull & did not capture my attention. It is a literary disaster. I Will Not be reading any of his books.
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