Audible book Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to the Audible book with Whispersync for Voice. Add the Audible book for a reduced price of $12.99 when you buy the Kindle book.
Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Apple
Android
Windows Phone
Android
To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
“Backman again captures the messy essence of being human...It’s clever and affecting, as likely to make you laugh out loud as it is to make you cry.” —Washington Post
"Backman is a master of writing delightful, insightful, soulful, character-driven narratives...[He] writes so humorously and poignantly about life, marriage, parenthood, love and death, prepare to be taken hostage by a stand-up philosopher/novelist who reminds us we are all ‘idiots’ because being human is ‘idiotically difficult.’” —USA Today
"This book examines how a shared event can change the course of many lives at once. And if you like strongly drawn characters and a mix of humor and heartbreak, this one's for you.” –The Skimm
"Wry, wise and often laugh-out-loud funny, it’s a wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure.” —People
“A deeply funny and warm examination of how individual experiences can bring a random group of people together. Backman reveals each character’s many imperfections with tremendous empathy, reminding us that people are always more than the sum of their flaws.” —BookPage
"[A] tight-knit, surprise-filled narrative... the brisk, absorbing action prompts meditation on marriage, parenting, responsibility, and global economic pressures. Comedy, drama, mystery, and social study, this novel is undefinable except for the sheer reading pleasure it delivers. Highly recommended."—Library Journal (starred review)
“Backman’s latest novel focuses on how a shared event can change the course of multiple people’s lives even in times of deep and ongoing anxiousness. A story with both comedy and heartbreak sure to please Backman fans.” —Kirkus Review
“Funny, compassionate and wise...an absolute joy.” —AJ Pearce, author of Dear Mrs. Bird
About the Author
Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, and two novellas, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and The Deal of a Lifetime, as well as one work of nonfiction, Things My Son Needs to Know About the World. His books are published in more than forty countries. His latest novel, Anxious People, was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook or Twitter @BackmanLand or on Instagram @Backmansk.
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of September 2020: An everyday apartment open house becomes the stage for Backman’s latest novel, when a bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. As the title hints, each member of the group bares his or her own anxieties, not just about the hostage situation, but about their individual lives. Backman is a funny, charming story teller, and Anxious People is a fine showcase for his talents as a writer. There are twists and surprises. There are editorial asides. Beneath it all, there is a deep sense of warmth and empathy. Backman is particularly gifted at creating a community of memorable characters and opening up their mental states to readers. And many readers of Anxious People will in turn reflect on their own anxieties. Ultimately, Backman seems to be telling us that—though it be a messy, ambiguous world we inhabit—we can turn toward one another to find calm and assurance. This is a novel that can, and should, be embraced by anxious people everywhere. –Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review
--This text refers to the hardcover edition.
Chapter 1 1 A bank robbery. A hostage drama. A stairwell full of police officers on their way to storm an apartment. It was easy to get to this point, much easier than you might think. All it took was one single really bad idea.
This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots. So it needs saying from the outset that it’s always very easy to declare that other people are idiots, but only if you forget how idiotically difficult being human is. Especially if you have other people you’re trying to be a reasonably good human being for.
Because there’s such an unbelievable amount that we’re all supposed to be able to cope with these days. You’re supposed to have a job, and somewhere to live, and a family, and you’re supposed to pay taxes and have clean underwear and remember the password to your damn Wi-Fi. Some of us never manage to get the chaos under control, so our lives simply carry on, the world spinning through space at two million miles an hour while we bounce about on its surface like so many lost socks. Our hearts are bars of soap that we keep losing hold of; the moment we relax, they drift off and fall in love and get broken, all in the wink of an eye. We’re not in control. So we learn to pretend, all the time, about our jobs and our marriages and our children and everything else. We pretend we’re normal, that we’re reasonably well educated, that we understand “amortization levels” and “inflation rates.” That we know how sex works. In truth, we know as much about sex as we do about USB leads, and it always takes us four tries to get those little buggers in. (Wrong way round, wrong way round, wrong way round, there! In!) We pretend to be good parents when all we really do is provide our kids with food and clothing and tell them off when they put chewing gum they find on the ground in their mouths. We tried keeping tropical fish once and they all died. And we really don’t know more about children than tropical fish, so the responsibility frightens the life out of us each morning. We don’t have a plan, we just do our best to get through the day, because there’ll be another one coming along tomorrow.
Sometimes it hurts, it really hurts, for no other reason than the fact that our skin doesn’t feel like it’s ours. Sometimes we panic, because the bills need paying and we have to be grown-up and we don’t know how, because it’s so horribly, desperately easy to fail at being grown-up.
Because everyone loves someone, and anyone who loves someone has had those desperate nights where we lie awake trying to figure out how we can afford to carry on being human beings. Sometimes that makes us do things that seem ridiculous in hindsight, but which felt like the only way out at the time.
One single really bad idea. That’s all it takes.
One morning, for instance, a thirty-nine-year-old resident of a not particularly large or noteworthy town left home clutching a pistol, and that was—in hindsight—a really stupid idea. Because this is a story about a hostage drama, but that wasn’t the intention. That is to say, it was the intention that it should be a story, but it wasn’t the intention that it should be about a hostage drama. It was supposed to be about a bank robbery. But everything got a bit messed up, because sometimes that happens with bank robberies. So the thirty-nine-year-old bank robber fled, but with no escape plan, and the thing about escape plans is just like what the bank robber’s mom always said years ago, when the bank robber forgot the ice cubes and slices of lemon in the kitchen and had to run back: “If your head isn’t up to the job, your legs better be!” (It should be noted that when she died, the bank robber’s mom consisted of so much gin and tonic that they didn’t dare cremate her because of the risk of explosion, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have good advice to offer.) So after the bank robbery that wasn’t actually a bank robbery, the police showed up, of course, so the bank robber got scared and ran out, across the street and into the first door that presented itself. It’s probably a bit harsh to label the bank robber an idiot simply because of that, but… well, it certainly wasn’t an act of genius. Because the door led to a stairwell with no other exits, which meant the bank robber’s only option was to run up the stairs.
It should be noted that this particular bank robber had the same level of fitness as the average thirty-nine-year-old. Not one of those big-city thirty-nine-year-olds who deal with their midlife crisis by buying ridiculously expensive cycling shorts and swimming caps because they have a black hole in their soul that devours Instagram pictures, more the sort of thirty-nine-year-old whose daily consumption of cheese and carbohydrates was more likely to be classified medically as a cry for help rather than a diet. So by the time the bank robber reached the top floor, all sorts of glands had opened up, causing breathing that sounded like something you usually associate with the sort of secret societies that demand a password through a hatch in the door before they let you in. By this point, any chance of evading the police had dwindled to pretty much nonexistent.
But by chance the robber turned and saw that the door to one of the apartments in the building was open, because that particular apartment happened to be up for sale and was full of prospective buyers looking around. So the bank robber stumbled in, panting and sweaty, holding the pistol in the air, and that was how this story ended up becoming a hostage drama.
And then things went the way they did: the police surrounded the building, reporters showed up, the story made it onto the television news. The whole thing went on for several hours, until the bank robber had to give up. There was no other choice. So all eight people who had been held hostage, seven prospective buyers and one real estate agent, were released. A couple of minutes later the police stormed the apartment. But by then it was empty.
No one knew where the bank robber had gone.
That’s really all you need to know at this point. Now the story can begin.
--This text refers to the hardcover edition.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2020
Verified Purchase
I'm a little biased but Backman can do no wrong! I thought this was a stunning novel, he is hands down one of my favorite authors and I found Anxious People to be incredible!
Perhaps this is a story about a hostage situation, anxious people, idiots, an apartment viewing, a police investigation, a bridge.
Perhaps this is a story about human relationships, which is something Backman writes about masterfully. This one was no exception, I laughed, I cried, I savored every word and page. Another brilliant novel by one of the best!
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2020
Verified Purchase
This book had a complex start and set up but it is worth working through this. This book touches your heart and soul and that is so important in this year of 2020. I highly recommend this book and love this author! He reaches deep!
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2020
Verified Purchase
"Worst hostages ever."
A bank robbery that never becomes a bank robbery. A hostage situation that might not be a hostage situation. Yet, there is intent, a mask, and a gun involved.
Eight stranger's anxieties that are all in one apartment viewing when a masked individual walks in, a suicide, a psychologist, and two cops trying to get to the bottom of it all, becomes the perfect mixture for a good novel.
Surprisingly funny and sad with moments of revelation is what Anxious People delivers to this reader. I became engrossed in the life of these people. How fate has put them all together in one place to bring out all of their issues into the open.
Anxiuos People has a true message. A good person can make a bad decision. Should the bad decision define us? Should we get a second chance? We have all been "idiots" at one point. Right?
I encourage people to read this book. It is not the usual prose I'm used to but it works nonetheless.
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
Oh my gosh I loved this book - more than I loved A Man Called Ove. You could say that this book was how a bank robber failed to rob a bank but instead managed to spark a hostage drama. I would describe it as 'Everyone you know is fighting a battle you know nothing about'. The reason the bank robber wants to rob the bank is heartbreaking. There were also plenty of moments when I laughed out loud. There are many nuggets of wisdom. There is also a bit of mystery; you learn bits about the different people as you read and need to put the pieces together. Also, what happened to the bank robber?
This is one of my many highlights, "Grandchildren would make him feel important?” Anna-Lena smiled weakly. “Have you ever held a three-year-old by the hand on the way home from preschool?” “No.” “You’re never more important than you are then.”"
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2020
Verified Purchase
OMG, what to say about this one? It was a book chosen for reading by our book club. Unfortunately, I suggested it because I read a review in the AARP magazine's "books for grown ups" section. One of our members said she loved "A Man Caled One" and agreed it would be a great book for the group. We haven't held our meeting since we read the book, but I will be interested to hear everyone's opinion. Mine is, I hated this book. The author states it's a book about idiots. Huge understatement. It's also a book about idiots for the idiots who pay $14 on their Kindle to read it. Long, rambling story I found myself skimming over, especially during the police interviews. Didn't see the humor. You don't get into the character development until about 3/4 through the book. The ending ties up the story, but you have to suffer through inane conversations with a near-naked man wearing a rabbit head, a moody pregnant woman, an elderly woman who really loves her wine, a young bohemian, and a long-married couple who have spent their lives flipping condos. Others who have reviewed this book claimed they really like the author's other books. Well, if they are anything like this one, I won't be reading them.
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
“This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots.”
I’ve read most of Fredrik Backman’s books and this one is very on-brand for him. The writing is sweet and funny and has heart. It’s full of zany characters who connect through a series of extraordinary coincidences. There’s the curmudgeon (or two) with heart of gold and the flighty young person (or two) with more sense than it seems. Lots tragic backstories and dead loved ones who seem alive until the author informs you otherwise. The ending is happy. You’ll feel things. You might even cry.
I don’t think book is as good as some of Backman’s previous efforts (“A Man Called Ove” and “Beartown”). The concept is good: the world’s most reluctant bank robber accidentally robs a cashless bank and winds up taking a group of people at an open house hostage, and they are the worst hostages ever. It’s just a tad too much. Too much coincidence. Too much cuteness. Too many many aha! moments. I know what I’m getting into with Backman, but this book could have benefited from just a touch of realism.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, some parts more than others. I think it’s worth reading, but if you’re new to Backman, pick up “A Man Called Ove” instead.
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2020
Verified Purchase
Oh it was so lovely. It was hard and sad and happy and good and silly and all the loveliness that warms you and makes you cry when you read a Backman book. Backman just has a magic way of writing about people that are so real that they take up space in your heart. Anxious People felt intimate and thoughtful. With thoughts we all think and hurts we all feel. Worn by people we all know. And the overall theme of our need for each other that you find in all of Backman’s books was there, familiar and comforting as ever.
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2020
Verified Purchase
I read this book in two days. I had to force myself to put it down long enough to get anything done around my house. I laughed, I cried and I read so many passages out loud to my husband that I think he started avoiding me. I loved the way stereotypes were broken and I loved the way the author tied everything together. If you want a heartwarming and entertaining book this is the one you should choose.
I find that I'm always fascinated by the writing style of this author. He is very good at explaining his different take on things. I like that the kindle gives us the option to highlight passages, which end up in my own book of clippings so that I can read them later. I added several from this book. The story was interesting, did not drag at all and the characters were all people who I found likeable in different ways. I could see and hear these people in my mind as I read this unusual story. I enjoy the way it all tied together.
2.0 out of 5 starsNot for me, OK for teens I guess
Reviewed in France on October 16, 2020
Verified Purchase
I could not finish the first chapter, the author's style was too painful for me. Like he's trying too hard to be funny and quirky and it just annoyed me so much.
This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
![Anxious People: A Novel by [Fredrik Backman]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sig3Nmy3L._SY346_.jpg)
Audible book:
