Not rock stars or presidents or astronauts, but just.people. In the case of Anxious People, I had a few themes I wanted to write about: The first was how ordinary people live with ordinary anxiety. So when I’ve figured out which three that is, which in itself is a process that can take a long time and a lot of weird writing that amounts to absolutely nothing, they often melt together into one hopefully decent idea. Seven of them are really bad or not thought through and three have some potential, maybe. Here, Bookselling This Week and Backman discuss his writing process.īookselling This Week: Where did the idea for this story come from?įredrik Backman: My usual process is that I have 10 ideas in my head at any given time. Anxious People is truly the best thing I’ve read in a long time!” I couldn’t put it down and barreled to the end, but now I am sad it’s over. It’s a story about sadness and hope and human connections. “The character development is incredible at revealing what’s inside each of the characters, and the way their stories link and interconnect is genius. “This book made me feel all the feels! It was sad, it was funny, it was hopeful, it was everything,” said Lisa Driban of Hockessin BookShelf in Hockessin, Delaware. Stuck in an unexpected situation, these strangers find they have more in common than they ever could have imagined.

Credit: Linnéa Jonasson Bernholm & Appendix Fotografiīackman’s latest book follows a group of eight strangers who are viewing an apartment when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes them all hostage.

Backman anxious people