The Book for Idiots: A Review of Anxious People by Fredrick Backman
A hard-pressed bank robber forgets to do their homework and attempts to steal from a cashless bank. In a panic they dash across the street and take hostages at an apartment viewing too many stairs up to be considered convenient. Its New Year’s Eve eve and no one, especially the thief, wants to be there.
“The truth? The truth about all this? The truth is that this was a story about many different things, but most of all about idiots.”
(From chapter 74, Backman)
I took my time reading Anxious People by Fredrick Backman. There has been no shortage of books concerning mental health, suicide, and heartbreak in the market these last few years. These topics are on nearly every writer’s mind and flowing from their pen tips. And in dealing with matters of the heart, each time we read a story of this depth a piece of our soul is exposed. So, I wanted to take time to read about the hopeless bank robber and the police officer afraid of elevators.
As the characters became cranky in their closed room-scene, readers will undoubtedly relate to one or more of the hostages. The people in the story are personalities of various stressors. Purposelessness is named Roger. Fear of getting close to people is a well-dressed woman named Zara. Ro is a soon to be mom that acts as the fear of failure. Our understanding of these worries in the form of people helps make them tangible and confrontable. It’s a good exercise: What if we were to turn all my anxieties into people and lock them in a room together, what would we say to them?
This book turned out to be everything and more that I wanted to read amidst a difficult season. Backman’s prose is not better than other standout fictions, like When All is Said or The Midnight Library. Backman does offer a unique tone that relaxed me. I felt permitted to pause and reflect more often than I do during other reads. The abbreviated chapter structure could lend to the pacing. Maybe unlike other novels in its class, the author eases our tension by confirming again and again that the protagonist would live. The other books work with empathetic readers to keep them turning the pages to be sure our favorite characters get off the ledge, which by nature is a more stressful relationship.
My favorite part of the book I will not disclose the details in this review. A bait-and-switch I am embarrassed to admit that I could not have predicted in a million years. I told a friend at work, “I felt like my sensibilities were offended, in the best way. I should have been thrown off onto my butt.” When you get to that chapter in the middle of the book, send me an email, leave a comment on this post, or find someone else who is reading this book and discuss. The conversations are worth having.
In light of being honest, I will warn future readers that I doubted this book just like Backman did in his Author’s Note. Smack dab in the middle when I usually become a die-hard or extreme critic, I wanted to close the covers. Anxious People is a tug-of-war experience. One side of the rope are the characters and the author pulling against a contender, the reader. This struggle is not from lack of talent or intention on Backman’s behalf, rather if a reader’s brain is the least bit distracted the characters can’t tug you in. Estelle, Anna-Lena, and Jim are weird, distracted, idiots prone to apathy just like you and I on our worst days.
The ending will boost you high with the simple truth: We don’t have to stay that way.
Anxious People is kind, warm, deeply sad, and truthful. This “story about idiots,” made me want to hug the author for giving me a handful of hours break from living like I was stuck on a hamster wheel proving I could run fast and get nowhere. Because it is true, when you get caught up in your own head too much, you are an idiot.
Anxious People is a buy to read and pass along to a friend in need kind of book. Backman told journalists from The New York Times, “It’s like an extension cord: If I switch the light on over here, it will go on at the other end. That’s what I am looking for when I write.” This amazing author switched the light on for me, and I hope he will for you too.
When you finish Anxious People give one of these titles a try. Both are stunning human stories that will move a reader in their own way.
