Awards

• Winner of The Tom Wolfe Literary Prize for Reportage 2025

Overview

From the acclaimed author of The Unspeakable and The Problem with Everything comes a new collection of unputdownable essays. 'For the last five or six years, on many afternoons around 4 or 5 p.m., I've been overcome with the sensation that my life is effectively over. This is not a sensation of the world ending; it's a distinct feeling of being at the end of my days. My time, while technically not ""up,"" is disappearing in the rearview mirror. The fact that this feeling of ambient doom tends to coincide with the blue-tinged, pre-gloaming light of the late afternoon lends to the whole thing a cosmic beauty, as devastating as it is awe-inspiring. As such, I've dubbed this the catastrophe hour.' Written between 2016 and 2024, these essays are classic Daum, showcasing her wit, her intellect and her uncanny ability to throw new light on even the most ubiquitous of subjects. Delving into divorce, dating, music, friendship, beauty, aging, death and money, Daum's unflinching honesty and exacting observations secure her reputation as one of our most important and enduring essayists.

Full Product Details

9781912559688

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Sharp, deft commentary.' * Kirkus *

'Sharp, deft commentary.' * Kirkus * ‘In these forthright pieces, The Unspeakable podcaster Daum (The Problem with Everything) meditates on the vagaries of midlife . . . She imbues the selections with wry humor, especially in ‘Independent Creator’, which probes the indignities of eking out a living from her podcast revenue and Substack subscriptions.’ * Publishers Weekly * ‘In a social media landscape in which writers have become aphorism machines, spewing politically-laden life advice (keep resisting!) Daum is the rare contemporary writer who simply tells the truth in the unvarnished manner that inevitably hits the hardest.’ -- Alex Perez * Washington Examiner * 'Daum remains a potent stylist. Her Didion-esque eye for revealing details is sharp as ever, as is her knack for inviting her reader into intimate communion.'  * Times Literary Supplement * 'In her new essay collection, Meghan Daum grapples with big things: mortality, marriage, the fate of Gen X, the thwarted longing for real estate, loving and losing dogs, and the dimensions of her chin When you read a Meghan Daum essay you often feel, “You too? Yes, that’s it exactly!” But even when you feel, “It’s not that way for me,” she makes you want to understand how things have played out for her. Another thing: This book is a beautiful object, and so packable it can fit in a purse. What a delight it would be this summer to pull it out and engage in that now-radical act of reading a book in public.' * Free Press Guide to Summer Reading * ’All power to Notting Hill Editions for publishing this latest instalment of pieces by one of America's finest, wittiest and most scathing essayists.’ -- Geoff Dyer * Guardian *

Author Information

Meghan Daum is the author of six books, including The Unspeakable, My Misspent Youth and The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through The New Culture Wars, a New York Times Notable Book for 2019. She is the host of the popular The Unspeakable Podcast.

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