Separation Anxiety audiobook

The light from Laura Zigman’s new novel, “Separation Anxiety,” is generated by a kind of literary nuclear fusion: an intense compression of grief and humor. The combination of those elements usually produces cynical black comedy, something witty and bitter, but Zigman’s work is too tender for that.“Separation Anxiety” is a long-awaited comeback for this clever writer who hasn’t published a novel since “Piece of Work” in 2006. A series of personal tragedies, including the deaths of her parents and her own cancer diagnosis, swept Zigman into what she calls “so many dormant years.” But now, she’s transmuted those struggles into a new book — a “second chance” — about a once-successful author whose world is collapsing under the weight of disappointment and fear.When we meet the narrator, Judy Vogel, she’s been deflated by a steady leakage of optimism. Years earlier, she had published a classic children’s book that became a PBS series — a thrilling, lucrative success that led to exactly nothing else. At 50, she’s mourning the loss of her parents, nursing her best friend through the final stages of a deadly illness and longing for the happy rapport she once enjoyed with her son, who has drifted into “brutal teenage opacity.”What’s worse, Judy is trapped in a zombie marriage. It’s over between her and her husband, but he can’t afford to. . . .To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...

Oh did I enjoy reading “Separation Anxiety” by Laura Zigman. First, there is a woman carrying a dog in a baby Bjorn sling on the cover. I have a 135-pound Bernese Mountain Dog; I look with envy at all those tiny dogs that could fit in a purse. I’m aging out of the huge dog thing, although I LOVE/ADORE my 135-pound bear. I can relate to holding a small dog at my chest. I believe dogs are the best stress relievers out there. But I digress, the story is, yes, about a woman who chooses to wear a dog and benefits from wearing her dog, even though her husband and son wither in embarrassment. Our narrator, Judy, is a 50-something mother of a teenage son. Teddy used to adore his mommy and now he wants her to disappear, as all teen boys do. Judy’s husband Gary is an under-employed, anxiety-ridden pot smoker who lives in the basement because they cannot afford to get a divorce. He’s a “snackologist”. He keeps businesses supplied with snacks.In Zigman’s hands, the bleak story is almost a madcap comedy. Zigman can look at a pitiful situation and see the bright side. For example, Teddy attends a Montessori school in which the headmaster wears clogs and starts the morning meeting with the peace gong, which ignites an all-school scrum to determine who bangs the peace gong. It’s funny in her prose.I chuckled through the story. This is a fun entertaining story that will take you away from your daily frustrating life. This is a story that illuminates the funny side of life. I highly recommend it for those times that your reality needs a bit of an uptick in humor.

Still catching up here on books I read earlier this spring. I love Laura Zigman's work and I was so grateful to see her return earlier this year. Here's a lovely story of a woman on the verge of falling apart -- her parents dead, her marriage crumbling, and her career largely derailed -- and so she takes comfort where she can. . .by bringing her beloved dog, Charlotte, with her wherever she goes in a baby sling. These days? We could all use a dog in a sling.

Seeing Laura Zigman’s name on a novel after so many years, actually made me very happy. I remembered her extremely clever book, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, from many years ago. The moment I received the ARC from Netgalley, I eagerly read it. Happily, I was not disappointed. This is about a family in crisis, not a sudden crisis, but years worth of pain, misunderstandings, loss and writer’s block. It’s the story of Judy who had early success in writing and is now blocked and her husband Gary, paralyzed by his own anxiety. Somehow, Judy finds solace by wearing her dog in a baby sling. As someone who has trouble falling asleep without the melody of my cat purring in my ear, I got it! I was engaged by every moment of their journey and struggles. This is a special novel, funny and poignant. It is very well done and a total page turner for me. It speaks to marriage, child rearing and the political correctness of progressive education. I can’t wait to share this with my book clubs. I know everyone who reads it will be drawn into Judy’s orbit and be cheering her on. Of course, I suspect that Judy and Laura have a lot in common. Well, bravo and good wishes to both of you. Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to be an early reviewer.

Anxiety is just a speed bump, a temporary setback, we tell ourselves. Of course it never feels that way at the time. This is how author Laura Zigman creates her distinctive amalgam of relatable grief and parodic humor. She introduces us to Judy Vogel, seriously hollowed out by loss. Both of her parents died slowly of cancer within the past five years. Now, her best friend Glenn is on that same route of decline. Her career has been stalled for a long time. After initial celebrity with her children's self-esteem book, what she calls her "embrace your weirdness manifesto,” writer's block has derailed her creative impulse. She is now 50. Her son Teddy is transitioning from voluble childhood to tight-lipped adolescence. Her husband Gary was once a musician. He too has been derailed. An anxiety disorder severe enough to warrant prescriptions for both Klonopin and medical marijuana has been worsening. His current job is to supply the assortment of snacks to an office of twenty-somethings at a high-tech startup. Hard to find any room for humor here, but that is exactly what Zigman gently offers.Judy confronts her situation with self-deprecating conviction: “Life eventually takes away everyone and everything we love and leaves us bereft. Is that a sad lesson? That's the only explanation I have for why I now wear the dog; my version of magical thinking; little tiny cracks are forming inside me every day and only the dog is keeping me from falling apart.” (p.8) She is literally wearing the dog. She carries it nearly everywhere in the long ago baby shower gift of a sling she unearthed from the basement.Zigman's take on Cambridge, Massachusetts is pitch perfect. The Vogel family clings to the house they bought in better times, alternately embracing and wryly critiquing the town's progressive-intellectual ethos. They are financially stressed, but not wolf-at-the-door stressed. Their son Teddy is in middle school, but still attending Morningside Montessori where a peace gong chimes daily to express a peace and kindness mantra with the aggressiveness one might expect from a preschool. Parent participation is, of course, not merely encouraged but expected. As the narrative unfolds, the Vogels will shelter members of the Puppet People, a troupe of costumed and masked performers who decline to break character even when off stage. There will also be an ill-considered trek to a rural retreat conducted by an online creative coach whom Judy has been following. The tuition credit for hosting the Puppet People is handily offset by the steep cost of the creativity jump-start workshop which Gary decides at the last minute to attend along with Judy. In between is a half-hearted stab at couples counseling. Both Judy and Gary are veterans of the drill. Like conspiring pranksters, they sabotage the session with eye rolls, private jokes and deflections. Inevitably, the subject of Judy's book, “There's a Bird on my Head,” comes up. Predictably, the therapist is drawn by curiosity to Judy's writers block, disregarding the irony of her inability to accept her own “weirdness.” On the contrary, the therapist struggles to fit the couple into an easy classifying box.Zigman leaves two jokes for her readers to discover on their own. “Vogel” is German for bird (recall the title of Judy's book). Later, a repurposed book of poetry by Emily Dickinson turns up. Gary recites, only half-ironically: “'Hope' is the thing with feathers/ That perches in the soul/And sings the tune without words/And never stops – at all.” (p.39) It is a succinct appraisal of their current married state – half in, half out. He lives in the finished basement, euphemistically referred to as the “snoring room,” a subterfuge for Teddy's benefit.Zigman provides a near perfect balance of serious grief and humor in the novel. Glenn's illness and close relationship with both Judy and Gary keeps the humor centered on the genuine pain and perplexity of the characters. This was the selection of our local book club. The blurb does not do it justice.

I am a longtime Laura Zigman fan, loved Animal Husbandry. This is not only her best book yet, it is THE best book yet. Seriously, I laughed and was so sad when it was over. I plan to buy it for everyone when it comes out!

I had a hard time relating to the narrator in the beginning. She is extremely self-absorbed and feels sorry for herself to the point of being maudlin. Judy has spent the last few years seeing her parents through long illness and death. Now her best friend is dying of cancer. She's "separated" from her husband, but living in the same house because they can't afford separate housing. Her thirteen year-old son is separating himself from her by talking to her very little and refusing to be cuddled. Judy desperately needs somebody to cuddle. So she begins to carry her twenty pound dog in a baby sling. Everywhere. Even to her son's school programs.Some of the reviews call Separation Anxiety hilarious. There is humor, but to me it was more like the chuckle, nod your head, I've been there kind of humor. The kind of humor we use to get us through the hard times. Judy encourages us to smile with her, not laugh at her. Very well written, with a positive ending.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and Laura Zigman for the opportunity to read her new book. I read Animal Husbandry years ago and remember loving it. This was a solid read for me - kind of a lighter-hearted view of real anxieties and issues.Judy is 50 years old. She has lost both her parents and her best friend is dying from cancer. She wrote a best-selling children's book years ago that was turned into a series, but her attempts at writing since then have fallen flat. Her teenage son, Teddy, is pulling away from her. Her husband, Gary, suffers with his own debilitating anxiety issues that have caused him to not be able to fully engage in a satisfying job. The couple sleep in separate areas now and consider themselves separated but can't afford a divorce. As Judy was going through boxes in an effort to tidy up, she found an unused baby sling she received as a gift when Teddy was born. Missing comfort, she ends up putting their dog in the sling and carrying her around.Lots of real life issues here as we age, change and try to be happy. Would make an interesting book club read with the right group of friends and wine!

Separation Anxiety is so real. I felt like my best friend was on the phone telling me her latest crazy stories. It is such an uplifting, funny, and truth revealing read. It spoke to me in unique ways. There was something about it that felt like she was peering into my own deranged thinking! Some days really feel like everyone else is the angry dog mob and I’m the only one seeing it my way! The story echoes for me a line I read recently in another book, “Sometimes saving someone else is how we save ourselves.”

This is not the kind of book I normally read, but I was really intrigued by the cover. As it turns out, I adored this book. It was funny, sad and very relatable. It is a book about loss and hope and love. I was crying my eyes out by the end and appreciate this book for what it is. The simplicity of it mixed with the unease of some of it really stuck a cord with me. This book is not as light as the cover would have you believe and that is a good thing.

This was such a weird delight! It had everything I didn't get from Radiant Shimmering Light and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine though the theme here had elements of both. The narrator, Judy, as the title implies, is dealing with the awkward separation from her husband while also having a hard time spending time away from their dog, Charlotte—which she takes to wearing on her person in a sling typically meant for a baby. She and her husband can't afford to actually separate legally or physically so Gary has taken to sleeping in the "snore room" (the basement). They're trying to keep up appearances for their son Teddy even though Gary's crippling anxiety and reliance on pot are both hard to hide. So in the meantime, they each are working part-time jobs just to keep themselves afloat. Though once a successful children's book author, Judy has severe writer's block which set in after her last couple of books flopped. She's known for writing about the bird on your head because when communicating with her late mother, Judy often felt like she was looking at her daughter as if there were a bird on Judy's head. It was a huge success, developed into a tv show, and praised as a manifesto for the honest oddness living in many of us. And yet, Judy now finds herself as a middleaged woman, invisible to many until she blurts out the wrong thing and receives a grimace or a glare reminiscent of that which always made her think there's a bird on her head.In a desperate move to keep Teddy in his private school, Judy agrees to house the visiting artists, People Puppets, in order to have their next month's tuition fee waived. This means that she and Gary will have to share a bed again, and might even have to talk about the state of their marriage. They go a few times a year to couples' counseling, but as is their way, they often get fed up with the process and leave early. Judy won't have sex with Gary and she accepts her accidental celibacy even as Gary refuses to just give up on them. The cherry on top of her increasingly stressful & miserable life is that her only longtime friend and editor Glenn is dying, and soon. Amidst everything, she spends $900 she doesn't have on a weekend retreat held by an influential social media creative guru with the hope that the workshops will force her to get back to writing. After months of wearing the dog everywhere, she leaves Charlotte and Teddy at home with the People Puppets, and she and Gary drive into what is sure to be an interesting time away.Over and over Judy proves how easy it is to say the wrong thing, alienating herself from her family and strangers alike. It's a pleasure to follow her not just because of how awkward she is but how relatable it is to have so much going on and willingly ignoring it all in order to spend time alone with her dog hoping her insecurities will soon fall away and she can once again be seen for the successful woman she once was. It's laughable and cringeworthy and perfect.

This humorous novel is about getting old and life changing - something that happens to all of us but some people accept it better than others. As with many people, the main character feels that she is invisible to the rest of the world but she comes up with a strange way to handle her feelings. I empathized with her because I've had a lot of the same feelings so it was great to read a funny book about life changing as you get older.Judy is 50 years old. She has a surly teenage son who no longer talks to her and a pot-smoking husband plus her best friend is dying of cancer. Judy is an author who had a very successful children's book but is now in permanent writer's block. She and her husband are always in debt and have trouble with bills - like their son's tuition. They are separated and sleep in different rooms but they can't afford to get a divorce. One day as Judy is cleaning out the basement, she finds the baby sling that someone gave her at her baby shower and she realizes that she's never used it. So she puts it on and tucks her dog into the sling. All of a sudden life begins to feel better and she has the dog with her to help alleviate her anxiety over life. Carrying around the dog in a sling upsets her son and husband but it makes her feel wonderful so she continues to do it. The big question throughout the book is whether Judy will be able to find happiness in her life as she is faced with all of the struggles and set backs that seem to multiple as you get older. And if she does find happiness, will she be able to get rid of the sling or will it keep her set in her old ways and attitudes.It's hard to grow old and become invisible to the rest of the world but even if you are invisible, you can still find happiness. This is a funny but emotional look at finding peace and contentment as you grow older.Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

My original 5 Things I Loved About This were lost in a tragic IGTV incident, but let me do my best to recreate them here. Because I DID love this book--and it's the perfect book for its horrible, anxiety filled moment (and yet still distracting!)1. the loopy premise. Sad-for-good-reasons, blocked writer starts wearing dog in sling and then can't stop. It's so crazy it just might work--and it does, for the protagonist and in the book sense.2. the theme: everybody here is just trying as hard as they can, damn it. No matter how ridiculous they are (and some of them are Puppet People) Laura Zigman makes them lovable, relatable characters. She demands that we empathize with them all and I love her for it.3. It's all just so funny. Not one possible moment goes unmined for the ridiculousness of it all, in the best possible way.4. Super distracting. You look up and it's been an hour, and that's a gift.5. Makes all the feels okay. And that's good, because I don't know about you, but I'm having way too many feels right now.

4.5

Anxiety in many forms are spotlighted with memorable characters. Judy, our main character, begins wearing her dog in a sling while she navigates the stresses of everyday life. Witty and sad. I would love to see a movie of this.

This was my first time reading a book by Laura Zigman. Separation Anxiety is full of humor however it also pretty sad. This book was a solid read for me. It focuses on real life issues.Judy is 50 years old. She has lost her parents. She has a best friend who is dying from cancer. Her son is pulling away from her and her husband suffers with his own anxiety issues. Judy and her husband considered as separated but they still live together because they can't afford a divorce. Judy is a woman of a difficult patch in her marriage. She is dealing with her tough life. At the beginning I was having a hard time to relate to the narrator. And then after a few pages I started to get a clearer picture of how the narrator is like. Judy is self-absorbed but she is strong. However, she always feel sorry for herself. When her 13 year old son, Teddy started to separate himself from her, Judy began to carry her dog in a baby sling. The baby sling was found in one of the boxes when she was tidying up the room. The baby sling was a gift when her son, Teddy was born. Judy needs comfort and someone needs to cuddle her. This is the reason why she ended up putting her dog in the sling and carrying it around.Even though there's a lot of humor in this book, I still feel sad about Judy. This book will teach you how to get through hard times and I really liked it. It's well written with a positive ending.Thank you, Times Reads for sending me a copy of Separation Anxiety in return for an honest review. This book is available to purchase.