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    American Fantasy

    A Novel

    Author Emma Straub On Tour
    Read by Marin Ireland
    Listen to a clip from the audiobook
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    Audio | Penguin Audio
    On sale Apr 07, 2026 | 7 Hours and 52 Minutes | 9798217079827
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    INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    “American Fantasy has everything we need right now: '90s nostalgia, humor, and it is a great escape.” —Jenna Bush Hager on NBC Today Show

    "I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy.” —Ann Patchett

    “American Fantasy is such a fun, delicious, big-hearted book.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid

    “Comedy and redemption on the high seas...breezy, tenderhearted.”—New York Times

    From New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow, an irresistible story about what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true after you’re already an adult.

    When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood.

    Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has accessed a new sense of possibility.

    In a smart and incisive book packed with laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, aging, and marriage, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured story that shows us real passion is never truly lost, that what we love makes us who we are, and that deep meaning can sometimes be found in a sea of screaming fans.
    © Alpha Smoot
    Emma Straub is the New York Times-bestselling author of six books for adults: the novels This Time Tomorrow, All Adults Here, The Vacationers, Modern Lovers, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, and the short story collection Other People We Married. She is also the author of a picture book, Very Good Hats. Her books have been published in more than twenty languages. She and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. View titles by Emma Straub
    "Wickedly funny...A fizzy escapist thrill ride with real insights on the isolation of celebrity, the community of fandom, and the liberation of middle age." —Oprah Daily

    “Deftly sketches out the contours of fandom, especially as they relate to the commodification of nostalgia and niche subcultures for Gen X and millennials.” —New York Times

    “The premise is instantly appealing… [A] laugh-out-loud book." —Minnesota Star Tribune

    “American Fantasy...is dripping with joy. It’s so darn fun to read." —USA Today

    “Straub depicts a wonderfully immersive world…A delightfully nostalgic novel about how the things we loved in the past have the power to shape our future.” —Kirkus (STARRED REVIEW)

    “Funny, wise, and nostalgic, Straub’s latest…is a total delight.” —Real Simple

    “Emma Straub consistently blends humor, nostalgia and emotional insight in ways that make her books irresistible.” —Parade

    "Brilliantly conceived…For readers drawn to cultural commentary and the sociology of fandom, American Fantasy offers humor, melancholy, and moments of piercing recognition.” —Chicago Review of Books

    "Straub's hordes of fans will happily fall for Annie on her journey to figuring out what's next, and the very recognizable zeitgeist Straub captures so effortlessly." —Booklist

    “I absolutely inhaled this delicious, heartfelt, treasure of a novel." —Literary Hub

    "A funny and poignant work about the pull of nostalgia and the appeal of second chances...American Fantasy is another Straub delight, a work whose light tone masks deeper meanings...[a] gift of a book.” —BookPage

    "I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy. I was up too late reading, then got up too early to go back to reading. All I wanted was American Fantasy. It brims with truth and humanity and insight, and it made me snort like a pig. I loved it. I think the entire country will love it.” —Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author

    "An unmitigated pleasure from start to finish, I did not want to return to dry land!" —Coco Mellors, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Sisters

    “American Fantasy is such a fun, delicious, big-hearted book.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author

    “Emma Straub is the most empathetic and open-hearted writer in literature. It is pure joy to see her turn to the emotionally complicated territory of teenage nostalgia and what it means to reconnect with the feelings of youth from the realities of middle age.” —Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

    “A delicious novel about being a grown-up girl who once loved something very, very much. You don't have to be a fan of something to love American Fantasy, but if you've ever truly devoted yourself to a boy band or a TV show or even a series of books, you will feel so understood by this novel.” –Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cherry Baby

    “Peak intelligence, and criminally readable.” —Maria Semple, New York Times bestselling author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette

    About

    INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    “American Fantasy has everything we need right now: '90s nostalgia, humor, and it is a great escape.” —Jenna Bush Hager on NBC Today Show

    "I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy.” —Ann Patchett

    “American Fantasy is such a fun, delicious, big-hearted book.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid

    “Comedy and redemption on the high seas...breezy, tenderhearted.”—New York Times

    From New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow, an irresistible story about what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true after you’re already an adult.

    When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood.

    Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has accessed a new sense of possibility.

    In a smart and incisive book packed with laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, aging, and marriage, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured story that shows us real passion is never truly lost, that what we love makes us who we are, and that deep meaning can sometimes be found in a sea of screaming fans.

    Author

    © Alpha Smoot
    Emma Straub is the New York Times-bestselling author of six books for adults: the novels This Time Tomorrow, All Adults Here, The Vacationers, Modern Lovers, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, and the short story collection Other People We Married. She is also the author of a picture book, Very Good Hats. Her books have been published in more than twenty languages. She and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. View titles by Emma Straub

    Praise

    "Wickedly funny...A fizzy escapist thrill ride with real insights on the isolation of celebrity, the community of fandom, and the liberation of middle age." —Oprah Daily

    “Deftly sketches out the contours of fandom, especially as they relate to the commodification of nostalgia and niche subcultures for Gen X and millennials.” —New York Times

    “The premise is instantly appealing… [A] laugh-out-loud book." —Minnesota Star Tribune

    “American Fantasy...is dripping with joy. It’s so darn fun to read." —USA Today

    “Straub depicts a wonderfully immersive world…A delightfully nostalgic novel about how the things we loved in the past have the power to shape our future.” —Kirkus (STARRED REVIEW)

    “Funny, wise, and nostalgic, Straub’s latest…is a total delight.” —Real Simple

    “Emma Straub consistently blends humor, nostalgia and emotional insight in ways that make her books irresistible.” —Parade

    "Brilliantly conceived…For readers drawn to cultural commentary and the sociology of fandom, American Fantasy offers humor, melancholy, and moments of piercing recognition.” —Chicago Review of Books

    "Straub's hordes of fans will happily fall for Annie on her journey to figuring out what's next, and the very recognizable zeitgeist Straub captures so effortlessly." —Booklist

    “I absolutely inhaled this delicious, heartfelt, treasure of a novel." —Literary Hub

    "A funny and poignant work about the pull of nostalgia and the appeal of second chances...American Fantasy is another Straub delight, a work whose light tone masks deeper meanings...[a] gift of a book.” —BookPage

    "I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy. I was up too late reading, then got up too early to go back to reading. All I wanted was American Fantasy. It brims with truth and humanity and insight, and it made me snort like a pig. I loved it. I think the entire country will love it.” —Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author

    "An unmitigated pleasure from start to finish, I did not want to return to dry land!" —Coco Mellors, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Sisters

    “American Fantasy is such a fun, delicious, big-hearted book.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author

    “Emma Straub is the most empathetic and open-hearted writer in literature. It is pure joy to see her turn to the emotionally complicated territory of teenage nostalgia and what it means to reconnect with the feelings of youth from the realities of middle age.” —Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

    “A delicious novel about being a grown-up girl who once loved something very, very much. You don't have to be a fan of something to love American Fantasy, but if you've ever truly devoted yourself to a boy band or a TV show or even a series of books, you will feel so understood by this novel.” –Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cherry Baby

    “Peak intelligence, and criminally readable.” —Maria Semple, New York Times bestselling author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette

    Additional formats

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