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We All Want Impossible Things: The funny, moving Richard and Judy Book Club pick 2023

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I absolutely hated the author's style of writing. It was just like a bunch of random ass thoughts put together with a hot ass mess of a main character. Ash is extremely annoying. The entire time reading this novel, I just kept thinking, "she needs therapy".. or she just needs to grow tf up. The dark humor throughout the novel got old and annoying fast. The characters are all original, fully imagined human beings, likable in different ways. (Sometimes they’re overly nice, in the cases of Ash’s husband with the annoying name of Honey and her too-wise-and-tolerant teenage daughter, Belle.) I recently read an essay by this author and it was amazing. So I bought this book she just wrote, and it was downright appalling.

A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.At the same time, Ash is dealing with her own midlife crisis. She still pines for her husband despite their separation, but that isn’t stopping her from sleeping with several different men. As she comes to terms with her best friend’s mortality, she’s also concerned about her daughters and what will happen to Edi’s husband and young son. Best friends since childhood, more than forty years, Edith and Ashley have been through everything together. They know each other better than they know anyone else. Now Edith is dying of ovarian cancer and spending her last days in a hospice facility close to where Ashley lives. I literally HATED this book. You ever read a book so bad, that it was literally changing your mood for the worse because everything about it just annoyed you.. yea.. it was this book for me. Should've easily made it to my DNF list. In the end, this is a lovely book, filled with laughter and tears, because that's what life (and death) is, isn't it? Life is just seesawing between the gorgeous and the menacing – like when you go for a run and one minute the whole neighborhood is lilacs in purple bloom, and then the next it’s stained boxer shorts and an inside-out latex glove.”

I've also done plenty of consulting, public radio commentaries, readings, talks, workshops, and TV appearances. For the last two days I have done nothing but read this book or think longingly about when I can return to reading this book. It's sad, and confronting, and comforting, and life-affirming all at the same time. Congrats, Catherine Newman, on an astonishing debut. KATIE BISHOP, author of THE GIRLS OF SUMMER But, this is a story that is just as much about living as it is about dying. It is a story of sadness and of hope; it is full of life and laughter, and tears and grief. I loved the way Edi's family and friends farewelled her, how they all supported and cared for one another. I wanted to be part of this messy and emotional group, to be one of them.

In her novel We All Want Impossible Things, Catherine Newman chronicles the final days of Edi's life from the perspective of her lifelong friend, Ashley. Though terminal illness and death can be tragic at any age, facing these realities at the stage of life Edi is in comes with a particular set of challenges, such as knowing she will miss out on watching her child grow up, and having to accept not being able to live out all the time and life goals she thought she would. Newman] brings Ash to life through a voice that is both hilarious and filled with crushing sadness, but the ultimate message is that of hope. A crossover readalike for fans of death memoirs such as those by Paul Kalanithi and Nora McInerny. In a stand mixer or with a sturdy wooden spoon, beat the ricotta, sugar, and lemon zest until smooth. Newman's clearsighted and bracingly funny first novel is a moving celebration of friendship, love and cherished memories DAILY MAIL Catherine Newman sees the heartbreak and comedy of life with wisdom and unflinching compassion. The way she finds the extraordinary in the everyday is nothing short of poetry. She’s a writer’s writer—and a human’s human.”—New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center

Newman perfectly captures the beauty and burden of caring for someone in their final moments while showing the gift of Edi and Ash's once-in-a-lifetime friendship. A warm and remarkably funny book that will make readers laugh through their tears. KIRKUSI have written the grown-up parenting memoirs Catastrophic Happiness (Little, Brown) and Waiting for Birdy (Penguin). I have also written the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night (Random House), Stitch Camp, which is a kids' craft book I co-wrote with my friend Nicole, and the award-winning bestselling skill-building books for kids How to Be a Person and What Can I Say? (both from Storey). My first adult novel, We All Want Impossible Things, is out now. Tragically funny, with moments of clarity and wisdom, Newman writes loss and laughter in equally brilliant amounts. BONNIE GARMUS, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY A novel set in a hospice has no right to be as hilarious, charming, and hopeful as We All Want Impossible Things. With Nora Ephron-style lightness, Catherine Newman has constructed a truly singular tale of love and friendship in the twenty-first century. I loved it. Whisk together the dry ingredients, then add these to the mixing bowl in two or 3 additions, beating until just mixed. I did have some initial difficulty in keeping the characters straight in my mind: Jude, Jules, Jonah; but this didn't last long. Ash is a character who grew on me. I didn't like her much at first, but that changed as the book progressed, and now I would love to have her as a friend.

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