Broken People
Sam Lansky
(Author)
Description
*A Kaia Gerber Book Club Pick*ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE YEAR
Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, Parade, Library Journal, Harper's Bazaar and more
"Profound and affecting."--Chloe Benjamin
"Broken People leads us through the winds of time and memory to offer a riveting portrait of transformation. I am better for having read it."--Jamie Lee Curtis
A groundbreaking, incandescent debut novel about coming to grips with the past and ourselves, for fans of Sally Rooney, Hanya Yanagihara and Garth Greenwell
"He fixes everything that's wrong with you in three days."
This is what hooks Sam when he first overhears it at a fancy dinner party in the Hollywood hills: the story of a globe-trotting shaman who claims to perform "open-soul surgery" on emotionally damaged people. For neurotic, depressed Sam, new to Los Angeles after his life in New York imploded, the possibility of total transformation is utterly tantalizing. He's desperate for something to believe in, and the shaman--who promises ancient rituals, plant medicine and encounters with the divine--seems convincing, enough for Sam to sign up for a weekend under his care.
But are the great spirits the shaman says he's summoning real at all? Or are the ghosts in Sam's memory more powerful than any magic?
At turns tender and acid, funny and wise, Broken People is a journey into the nature of truth and fiction--a story of discovering hope amid cynicism, intimacy within chaos and peace in our own skin.
Product Details
Price
$27.99
Publisher
Hanover Square Press
Publish Date
June 09, 2020
Pages
304
Dimensions
6.1 X 9.1 X 1.1 inches | 1.05 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781335013934
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
About the Author
Sam Lansky is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir The Gilded Razor and the West Coast editor at Time magazine. He's written for New York magazine, The Atlantic, Esquire and Out. He lives in Los Angeles, California. samlansky.com
Reviews
"Don't underestimate Broken People: it may be full of delightful, razor-edged cultural commentary, but so too is it a journey of the soul. Too vulnerable to be blithely satirical and too self-aware to serve or fall for easy platitudes, Sam Lansky's debut novel sends up LA's consumerist wellness obsession while exploring the nature of health, acceptance, and human connection. The result is profound and affecting--as savvy as it is searching, as critical as it is compassionate."--Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists "An epic journey of self-forgiveness that confronts us with the ways in which we're all broken, then, with the assured hand of a most talented writer, conjures the healing magic within. A mesmerizing read."--Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and The Octopus and The Editor "Sam Lansky's debut novel Broken People goes spelunking into the caves of one man's insecurities. He's written a piercing book about many topical things--gay sex and love; addiction; real estate; the dumb binary of American coastal identity--while also tapping into something frighteningly universal. Lansky's book is a harrowing taxonomy of want, the material and the metaphysical gnawing away in bitter chorus. We've all ached like Sam, despite the foreign and rarefied circumstances of his experience. Both grim satire and nourishing, empathetic cri de coeur, Broken People is among the strangest and most thrilling reading experiences I've had this year. What terrible, selfish lives we all lead--and how beautiful our struggle to transcend them can be."--Richard Lawson, author of All We Can Do Is Wait "Broken People leads us through the winds of time and memory to offer a riveting portrait of transformation. I am better for having read it."--Jamie Lee Curtis "Broken People is an intimate and raw story of pain and healing. Sam Lansky proves he has command of a poignant and strikingly vulnerable new voice in fiction. Brave, wise, and beautifully unflinching."--Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six "A searing read about truth and identity."--Harper's Bazaar "Cuts to the quick of Los Angeles life."--Vogue "A haunting, honest, and humorous portrayal of how hard it is to find shelter from the ghosts of one's past."--O, The Oprah Magazine "Riveting... With humor, verve, and cut-to-the-bone revelations, Lansky takes readers on an enthralling adventure... Lansky's mesmerizing descriptions are unflinchingly raw."--Publishers Weekly "Vividly realized...remains the story of one man's deep personal struggles while at the same time speaking to and for all the broken people in this world....a deeply felt journey."--Library Journal "Revelant.. bittersweet and delightfully circuitous...reminding us of the inconveniently true maxim that in order to heal, you first have to make some semblance of peace with yourself."--Vogue, Best Books for Summer
