In Emma Straub's novel 'All Adults Here,' family is messy

Summary

NPR's Book of the Day: In Emma Straub's Novel 'All Adults Here,' Family Is Messy

Release Date: July 3, 2025
Host: Andrew Limbong
Guest: Emma Straub
Book Discussed: All Adults Here by Emma Straub

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Introduction to the Episode

In this episode of NPR's Book of the Day, host Andrew Limbong revisits some favorite summer reads, seamlessly blending personal anecdotes with literary insights. The focus of this episode is Emma Straub's latest novel, All Adults Here, which delves deep into the complexities of family dynamics across generations.

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Overview of 'All Adults Here'

All Adults Here is portrayed as a modern family saga that intricately weaves the lives of three generations thrust together, often unwillingly. The narrative explores how sudden events can lead to profound personal reflections and familial shifts.

Scott Simon introduces the novel by highlighting its central event: "Astrid Strick sees a lifelong friend she'd never much like get hit and killed by an empty, speeding school bus at the age of 68" (02:00). This tragic incident serves as the catalyst for Astrid's introspection about her past choices and relationships.

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Themes and Family Dynamics

The novel centers on Astrid, a widow whose life is further complicated by her daughter Porter’s decision to become pregnant by choice—a decision that occurs at a seemingly precarious time. Emma Straub emphasizes that the book is "about how the choices we make and the mistakes we make stay with us for decades, if not forever" (02:35).

The narrative doesn't shy away from portraying the imperfections within a family. Straub reflects on universal familial interactions, such as the playful annoyances between her own parents, illustrating that these seemingly trivial moments are laden with love and complexity.

At one point, Straub shares a poignant observation: "Everyone was born alone and everyone would die alone. But they were wrong. When someone was born, they brought so many people with them. Generations of people zipped into the marrow of their tiny bones" (05:26). This quote encapsulates the novel's exploration of inherited legacies and the inescapable ties that bind family members together.

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Emma Straub's Personal Insights and Bookstore

Beyond discussing her novel, Emma Straub provides a glimpse into her life as a bookstore owner in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. She describes the thriving business as "somewhat miraculously" buoyed by a strong sense of community (03:34). Straub elaborates on how her bookstore serves as a nexus for various phases of her life, from high school acquaintances to long-time friends, making every day an "interesting sort of psychological experiment" (04:00).

This personal environment deeply influences her writing, allowing her to reflect on how individuals perceive each other over time. Straub muses, "The ways in which we're all really watching each other get older and the ways in which we either allow or don't allow each other to grow or change and what sort of feelings get all tied up in that" (04:30), highlighting the intertwined nature of personal growth and familial expectations.

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Notable Quotes from the Episode

• Emma Straub: "The book is really about how the choices we make and the mistakes we make stay with us for decades, if not forever." (02:35)

• Scott Simon: "Everyone was born alone and everyone would die alone. But they were wrong. When someone was born, they brought so many people with them. Generations of people zipped into the marrow of their tiny bones." (05:26)

• Emma Straub: "It’s equal opportunity. Opportunity for choices and mistakes. They’re all doing things their family members would rather they do differently." (03:17)

• Emma Straub: "I think that this moment really does bring up all those big feelings about family and about how we relate to the people we love the most and who we know." (06:45)

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Concluding Insights

All Adults Here serves as a profound exploration of family ties, personal regrets, and the enduring impact of our relationships. Through Astrid's journey, Emma Straub invites readers to reflect on their own familial interactions and the unseen forces that shape them. The episode underscores the universality of these themes, making Straub's work resonate with a broad audience seeking both comfort and introspection in their literary choices.

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About Emma Straub:
Emma Straub is a best-selling author known for her novels The Vacationers and Modern Lovers. Alongside her writing career, she co-owns an independent bookstore in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, which serves as a creative hub and inspiration for her storytelling.

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This summary provides an in-depth look into the episode for those who haven't listened, capturing the essence of the discussions, key themes, and memorable quotes shared between Scott Simon and Emma Straub.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's Andrew. Just a heads up. This week on the show, we are revisiting some of our favorite summer reads. We've got some classic beach reads, family dramas, love stories, all kinds of books to get you through a vacation or for you to appreciate from the comfort of an air conditioned library. Enjoy. Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. When I visit my folks, I can't help but feel like I'm 16 again, you know, like I'll intentionally wear my rattiest clothes and hope my mom will notice so she' take me to Marshalls and buy me new underwear. Or I'll pick a fight with my dad about something stupid that will drop the second we're hungry, which is about every 15 minutes or so. It's not a dynamic that I enjoy per se, but one I miss from time to time. I actually missed it listening to today's interview with Emma Straub. Her book All Adults Here is all about these intergenerational dynamics and how people grow up or don't. And she tells NPR's Scott Simon about the weird little things in her family that are representative of some big feelings.

[Scott Simon]

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And Ms. Traub's new novel reminds us how lives can change in an instant. Not that we may need that reminder much right now. Astrid Strick sees a lifelong friend she'd never much like get hit and killed by an empty, speeding school bus at the age of 68. She realizes, she tells her children, there are always more school buses, all adults. Here is the title of Emma Straub's new modern family saga of three generations thrown together, whether they like it or not. And a lot of the time they don't. And Emma Straub, the best selling author of the Vacationers, Modern Lovers and other books. And by the way, an independent bookstore owner, joins us from Brooklyn. Thanks so much for being with us.

[Emma Straub]

Thanks for having me, Scott. It's a pleasure.

[Scott Simon]

What does seeing someone she wishes she could have liked a little more, maybe get killed mid morning on a busy day, set off in Astrid well, so.

[Emma Straub]

The book, as you say, really starts.

[Scott Simon]

With a bang, crunch I'd say, but.

[Emma Straub]

With a bang and a crunch and a roll. But really what it does is it makes Astrid, who's the main character of the book, realize that there are a lot of things that she wishes to done differently as a parent. And the book is really about how the choices we make and the mistakes we make stay with us for decades, if not forever.

[Scott Simon]

Yeah, we'll explain. Astrid is already a widow. She has a daughter, Porter, who is, and I'll tread carefully, pregnant by choice at a time when it might not seem the wisest thing to do.

[Emma Straub]

Yeah, yeah, you know, everyone, it's a big, complicated family book. And so it's equal opportunity. Opportunity for choices and mistakes. They're all doing things their family members would rather they do differently.

[Scott Simon]

As we noted, you and your husband own a bookstore in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. May I ask how business is right now?

[Emma Straub]

You know, somewhat miraculously, business is actually pretty good. And that sense of community is absolutely buoying us right now. And I will say that in the last three years since we've opened the store and I've been writing this book, the thing that I think about the most is that sense of community. The neighborhood where our bookstore is and where we live is the neighborhood where I went to school and my children go to the school that I went to. And so all day long I see people from all these different periods of my life. My 10th grade poetry teacher and my friend's parents and a person I made out with in high school. And you know, I see all these people every day. And it's been a really interesting sort of psychological experiment on myself really to think about when they interact with me. Are they interacting with 40 year old mother of two, are they interacting with sullen 16 year old me? Are they thinking about me as a child? Are they thinking about me and my parents? I think about those different webs a lot. And that's really a lot of what the book is about, is the ways in which we're all really watching each other get older and the ways in which we either allow or don't allow each other to grow or change and what sort of feelings get. Get all tied up in that.

[Scott Simon]

And you know, that kind of brings up a line in particular that I admire from your book where you're right, people said that everyone was born alone and everyone would die alone. But they were wrong. When someone was born, they brought so many people with them. Generations of people zipped into the marrow of their tiny bones.

[Emma Straub]

I mean, the family in this book, they are in and out of each other's lives and react to each other in the ways that we all do, I think, with our families. You know, like, I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but when my mother comes over to our house, she and my husband immediately started sort of annoying each other and teasing each other and all of those things that you would normally complain about. And my book is full of those things with this family.

[Scott Simon]

Yeah.

[Emma Straub]

Like right now, my husband said to me yesterday, he said, I just wish your mom could come over and annoy me. I think it's what we're all missing, you know, are like, not the perfect shiny bits, but like, why does my mom just bring me bags of loose batteries? I don't know. I mean, I probably need them.

[Scott Simon]

Yeah. Who's gonna ask? Yeah, we could all use them, I guess.

[Emma Straub]

Right? Right. And that kind of stuff, which I always make fun of her for but is so loving and. Yeah. I mean, I think that this moment really does bring up all those big feelings about family and about how we relate to the people we love the most and who we know, you know, it's a funny kind of microscope we're all under right now.

[Scott Simon]

Emma Straub's novel All Adults Here. Thank you so much for being with us.

[Emma Straub]

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[Scott Simon]

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[Emma Straub]

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