Separation Anxiety: A Novel
- Downloads：3993
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2020-12-02 04:12:09
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Laura Zigman
- ISBN：9780062909084
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Editor Reviews
Separation Anxiety is a hilarious， heart-breaking and thought-provoking portrait of a difficult marriage， as fierce as it is funny。。。。[Zigman’s] sharp eye for contemporary life is a revelation。。。。My advice: Start reading and don’t stop until you get to the last page of this wise and wonderful novel。
Reviews
NJteach33
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I really enjoyed this book。 I chose it for my popsugar 2020 challenge for book with a great first line。 As someone that battle anxiety and actually got a dog to help。with my depression， this was not what I was expecting。。。 But I was pleasantly surprised and thought the character development was appropriate and made you really connect with the Judy。
Katie
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I suffer from a certain level of anxiety so I thought I would see myself in this book， but nope。 Being in Judy's head was exhausting and annoying and frustrating and all the -ings。 I didn't want to pick up the book to read， so honestly it should have been a DNF for me。
Melissa Namba
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Honestly not the greatest book but there are things I really liked about it。 The protagonist is not really a likeable character。 She has many flaws and as the reader， I didn't really connect with her or take interest in her。 I took interest in Charlotte though。 The angst of the son， Teddy， was well done and I loved how he finally broke down crying about how he was being bullied by the school secretary。 I also really liked Sari， who I probably wasn't supposed to like。 I pictured her like Jameela Honestly not the greatest book but there are things I really liked about it。 The protagonist is not really a likeable character。 She has many flaws and as the reader， I didn't really connect with her or take interest in her。 I took interest in Charlotte though。 The angst of the son， Teddy， was well done and I loved how he finally broke down crying about how he was being bullied by the school secretary。 I also really liked Sari， who I probably wasn't supposed to like。 I pictured her like Jameela Jamil。 But I love that dogs are the solution to all the problems。 Because this is true。 。。。more
Alina
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DNF。 I found it boring and depressing。 Need something else for the end of November during the year of covid。
Robyn Martin
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Audible
Hillsullivan
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I read this after another quirky book。 It was a stressful listen。 not quite my genre， it was ok， but I could easily put it down
Catherine Tassé
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I enjoyed the book and thought it was a funny light read that also made me reflect on the topic of anxiety and coping strategies。 In my opinion， the author showed us how people can create their own coping mechanisms and techniques to deal with stressful life events。 The main character carries her dog in a sling to manage her stress and to reduce her anxiety。 This could easily be applied in our own lives via the coping mechanisms we use to provide ourselves with comfort and reassurance。 The dog i I enjoyed the book and thought it was a funny light read that also made me reflect on the topic of anxiety and coping strategies。 In my opinion， the author showed us how people can create their own coping mechanisms and techniques to deal with stressful life events。 The main character carries her dog in a sling to manage her stress and to reduce her anxiety。 This could easily be applied in our own lives via the coping mechanisms we use to provide ourselves with comfort and reassurance。 The dog in the sling made the book hilarious and fun to read but if you dig deeper， I think the dog in the sling represented the anxieties that humans carry on a daily basis。 In the book， these are portrayed in a very visual and obvious way， whereas， in real life， we tend to carry our anxieties in silence。 Perhaps the author is trying to raise our awareness on the topic of anxiety and would like us to become more empathetic towards strangers we meet （or people we know）， as each person could easily be carrying a dog in a sling。 。。。more
Cindy Morse
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Why do I get books with anxiety in the title， when anxious people make me crazy （yes， you， Diane Keaton！）。 I’ll have to remember that these books do nothing for my own anxiety！
Cassie
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Oh my god， I loved this book！ It’s just what I needed to read right now。 The snarkiness， the grief， the realities of being a middle age woman & not giving a shit about what other people think， the mundanity of daily life， and the moments of sweetness and utter craziness that get us through it all。。。all of it！ I loved it。 The ending was perfect too。 Oh my god， I loved this book！ It’s just what I needed to read right now。 The snarkiness， the grief， the realities of being a middle age woman & not giving a shit about what other people think， the mundanity of daily life， and the moments of sweetness and utter craziness that get us through it all。。。all of it！ I loved it。 The ending was perfect too。 。。。more
Tara
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I've worn my chihuahua/collie （ironically， named Teddy！） constantly in a sling bag for a little over a year now， so this book was an obvious read for me （everyone I know said I HAD to read it， haha）。 I’m usually a slow reader， but read this in one day。 Laura had me captivated from beginning to end！As someone who also has debilitating anxiety， I don’t think the book made light of mental health like other reviews suggest。 Sometimes spouses （view spoiler）[（in this case， Judy） （hide spoiler）] don't I've worn my chihuahua/collie （ironically， named Teddy！） constantly in a sling bag for a little over a year now， so this book was an obvious read for me （everyone I know said I HAD to read it， haha）。 I’m usually a slow reader， but read this in one day。 Laura had me captivated from beginning to end！As someone who also has debilitating anxiety， I don’t think the book made light of mental health like other reviews suggest。 Sometimes spouses （view spoiler）[（in this case， Judy） （hide spoiler）] don't quite understand or relate to how we （view spoiler）[（in this case， Gary） （hide spoiler）] feel and think， & maybe don’t quite know how to help us。 （view spoiler）[At a certain point， you kind of just realize that Judy either doesn't have the patience anymore or the emotional strength to help Gary， and that's so real。 It's not making light of his condition， she's just a tired spouse with too much going on already to also take care of her husband。Spouses can get frustrated when they’re constantly dealing with our condition sometimes （just like we get frustrated with ourselves）。 Marriage is hard enough already， and having mental health issues on top of it。。。 （hide spoiler）]。。。Man， this book nailed it。 It's draining， and that’s so real-life。On top of relating to dog-wearing， （view spoiler）[my aunt is currently dying from terminal breast cancer， so Glenn's experience really got me。 The emotions are so accurate and real， I really appreciate this storyline being included in such raw emotional detail。 I see so much of my Aunt in Glenn， so I sobbed through all of her parts。 （hide spoiler）]I do wish more of the storylines could have been explored further。 However， I just finished， so I’m maybe just being selfish in wishing the book hadn’t ended yet。 I felt so attached to the characters & wanted to know even more！It wraps up very nicely， though。All in all， what a great book; my favorite read of the year！["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> 。。。more
Monica George
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I had fun reading this。 Equal parts funny and heartbreaking。 Love a protagonist who can embody middle aged motherhood so accurately and without apology。 So many ppl in this book wearing clogs though。。。 Am I clueless or are clogs actually still mainstream fashion？Also where can I get some？
Rita Mahan
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Judy wears her dog。。。。。。may seem weird to most of us but to her it is a comfort and helps her get through each day。Middle age angst has set in， her son is a teenager and she misses the sharing and caring of his younger years， her husband smokes pot to escape the fact that he works filling snacks for start up companies and suffers anxiety issues of his own。 Their marriage has already failed but they have no money to live separately so he lives in the cellar and Judy lives upstairs and they try to Judy wears her dog。。。。。。may seem weird to most of us but to her it is a comfort and helps her get through each day。Middle age angst has set in， her son is a teenager and she misses the sharing and caring of his younger years， her husband smokes pot to escape the fact that he works filling snacks for start up companies and suffers anxiety issues of his own。 Their marriage has already failed but they have no money to live separately so he lives in the cellar and Judy lives upstairs and they try to hide this from their son， Many parts of this book are funny but also sad as so many of us tend to look at our lives in relation to others and wonder why？ 。。。more
Aubrey
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Didn't like it。
Michele Ferrari
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A beautiful explorations of parenthood and connection and the continued effort to figure out how to be an adult。
Peebee
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There were some sweet things in this book， and I wanted to like it more， but ultimately it was just too cringy for me to enjoy。 And while it was a quick read， the ending was almost too abrupt。
Karen Raskin
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Meh。 Irritating narrator， some clever bits， but mostly pathetic。
K Rae
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Heavy issues， but manageable with humor and dogs。
Nancy Smith
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Don’t find anything “hilarious” about anxiety & mental health issues。 My anxiety decreased when I separated （finished） this pointless book。 Don’t find anything “hilarious” about anxiety & mental health issues。 My anxiety decreased when I separated （finished） this pointless book。 。。。more
Wendy Duval
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3。5
Liz Norell
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I tried。 Twice。 I wanted to love this book -- main character with anxiety？ Yes。 Seeks solace from her dog？ ABSOLUTELY。 Husband is kooky？ SIGN ME UP。 But I just 。。。 I couldn't get into the story。 I could find no love for this character， not even in a rage-reading， I-hate-you-so-much-I-have-to-see-how-you'll-screw-this-up kind of way。 I'm so sorry， Laura Zigman。 This one is getting sold to the used bookstore。 :（
Marna Tisdel
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A 50 year old woman starts carrying her dog around in a sling in order to help her deal with her teenage son who is withdrawing from her， her marriage which is falling apart and the death of her best friend。 Meh。
Melissa
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I enjoyed the many one-liners related to the “gimmick” of this story， that one day Judy - an anxious and unfulfilled writer， wife and Mom - just starts wearing her dog。 Just imagine her doggie care instructions for the puppet people staying at her house （long story） when she uncharacteristically books a pricey weekend conference to unlock her writer’s block。 As a writer who has managed to avoid jobs requiring fluffy stories， I can feel Judy’s pain as a content writer in an area she doesn’t belie I enjoyed the many one-liners related to the “gimmick” of this story， that one day Judy - an anxious and unfulfilled writer， wife and Mom - just starts wearing her dog。 Just imagine her doggie care instructions for the puppet people staying at her house （long story） when she uncharacteristically books a pricey weekend conference to unlock her writer’s block。 As a writer who has managed to avoid jobs requiring fluffy stories， I can feel Judy’s pain as a content writer in an area she doesn’t believe in。 As someone who dreamed of writing children’s books initially， I’m jealous of Judy’s initial career success in writing a book that even got made into a TV series。 Overall this was a quick， enjoyable read， even though there isn’t a huge amount of action and Judy’s life in hardly enviable。 。。。more
Kelly
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I really liked some of the writing， but the second-hand embarrassment almost made me DNF。
Jenny
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I read a review that mentioned this book was funny。 Well， I agree that some parts were humorous， but I felt more sad than amused while reading this book。
Julie Nelson
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Cute。 It got better as it went along， especially when the puppet people showed up。The ending was a surprise for me。
Elizabeth
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This book was not at all what I was expecting。 The set-up seemed fairly straightforward and typical: mom having mid-life crisis as her marriage seems to be failing， her career has stalled， and her son is approaching teenager years and no longer thinks she's cool。 After that， though， this book felt REALLY different。 The failing marriage never actually feels like it's failing- it feels like it really needs work， but her husband isn't cold or distant。 The main character， Judy， deals with her anxiet This book was not at all what I was expecting。 The set-up seemed fairly straightforward and typical: mom having mid-life crisis as her marriage seems to be failing， her career has stalled， and her son is approaching teenager years and no longer thinks she's cool。 After that， though， this book felt REALLY different。 The failing marriage never actually feels like it's failing- it feels like it really needs work， but her husband isn't cold or distant。 The main character， Judy， deals with her anxiety and depression in some fairly unique ways （wearing the family dog in a baby sling， for example。） She is dealing with a LOT in her life， and she's just trying to push through。 Zigman does an amazing job of the "show don't tell" style of writing， and I felt like I was learning things about the main character that she didn't even realize herself。 I couldn't quite figure out how the book was going to end， and it got to the point where it was ALL hinging on those last few pages。 I gotta say。。。 I didn't hate it。 I'm impressed with this author。 。。。more
Hope Gunther
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3。5/5 weird， witty， and wise
Brittany
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Hilarious but also touching。
Laura
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I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed this book。 Laura Zigman deftly navigates her anxious characters through many of the difficulties that life has handed most people by the time they find themselves middle-aged。 She does so with a touching and quirky humor that really resonates。 The grief of losing parents and friends， the ubiquity of experiences of illness and injury， and the challenges of career and relationship disappointments and parenting difficulties have all visited our dog-obsesse I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed this book。 Laura Zigman deftly navigates her anxious characters through many of the difficulties that life has handed most people by the time they find themselves middle-aged。 She does so with a touching and quirky humor that really resonates。 The grief of losing parents and friends， the ubiquity of experiences of illness and injury， and the challenges of career and relationship disappointments and parenting difficulties have all visited our dog-obsessed protaganist， her pot smoking husband， and her best friend Glenn。 I suppose it helps if you as a reader are also a pet owner， because some of the humor here is pet humor， but I don’t think it is necessary in order to enjoy this novel。 There is something in here for everyone！This book is both an easy and a meaningful read， a convergence that makes it a natural to recommend。 I’ve already picked up two other novels by this author， and am looking forward to reading them。 。。。more
Janelle Kuntz
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I took a break from heavy-topic reading with this funny， heart-warming gem of a book。 It gave me things to think about and reflect on delivered as humor and character flaws。 I really enjoyed the author's writing style and plan on finding more from her。
Christine Thomas
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