Interestings

Discover the generation-defining American novel from the author of The Wife

Whatever became of the most talented people you once knew?

On a warm summer night in 1974, six teenagers play at being cool. They smoke pot, drink vodka, share their dreams and vow always to be interesting.

Decades later, aspiring actress Jules has resigned herself to a more practical occupation; Cathy has stopped dancing; Jonah has laid down his guitar and Goodman has disappeared. Only Ethan and Ash, now married, have remained true to their adolescent dreams and have become shockingly successful too. As the group's fortunes tilt precipitously, their friendships are put under the ultimate strain.

'A truly great novel about friendship, and how it deepens and changes over the years' David Sedaris, author of Me Talk Pretty One Day

Review: This is a wonderful book. Intelligent and subtle, it is exquisitely written with enormous warmth and depth of emotion... But what makes The Interestings exceptional is the precision and elegance of Wolitzer's writing... This should be the novel to make Wolitzer a household name here too -- Kate Mosse * The Times *

Wolitzer is a writer of prodigious energy and detail, with the knack for comic-satirical perceptions of character and culture -- Rachel Cusk * Guardian *

A complex, cleverly interwoven analysis of the moment when the lives of six friends begin to unravel' -- Viv Groskop * Observer *

Wolitzer has a knack for homing in on the kind of pretension-puncturing details that can sum up a minor character in a single sentence -- Hepzibah Anderson * Daily Mail *

Meg Wolitzer writes fluently about the American Dream and whether you should surrender your goals to reality in this wonderful novel * Stylist *

I love Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings because it's sprawling and beautifully written and it opens at a summer camp. It's a truly great novel about friendship, and how it deepens and changes over the years -- David Sedaris * Conde Nast Traveller *

A breakout book -- Allison Pearson

If you enjoy the introspective aspects of Virginia Woolf or the American modernity of Jennifer Egan, you'll love this sweeping, tragicomic novel of ideas * Psychologies *

One of those generation-defining America novels that tackles big historical issues * Marie Claire *

Full of wit * Emerald Street *

The wit, intelligence and deep feeling of Wolitzer's writing are extraordinary and The Interestings brings her achievement, already so steadfast and remarkable, to an even higher level * Jeffrey Eugenides *