THERE ARE NO GROWN-UPS
“If you really must turn 40, this is the book to do it with. The overall effect of having Pamela Druckerman in your life is you remember not to take it all so damn seriously.”
—Kelly Corrigan, author of Tell Me More
“There has been remarkably little good writing about this thorny topic but here, with excellent timing, comes Pamela Druckerman’s pitch-perfect and brutally frank ‘There Are No Grown-Ups.’…part memoir, part social comedy, but also a poignant meditation on what it means to suddenly be promoted to the ranks of the grown-ups.”
—Allison Pearson, The New York Times Book Review
When Pamela Druckerman turns 40, waiters start calling her “Madame,” and she detects a disturbing new message in mens’ gazes: I would sleep with her, but only if doing so required no effort whatsoever.
Yet forty isn’t even technically middle-aged anymore. And after a lifetime of being clueless, Druckerman can finally grasp the subtext of conversations, maintain (somewhat) healthy relationships and spot narcissists before they ruin her life.
What are the modern forties, and what do we know once we reach them? What makes someone a “grown-up” anyway? And why didn’t anyone warn us that we’d get cellulite on our arms? Part frank memoir, part hilarious investigation of daily life, There Are No Grown-Ups diagnoses the in-between decade when…
• Everyone you meet looks a little bit familiar.
• You’re matter-of-fact about chin hair.
• You can no longer wear anything ironically.
• There’s at least one sport your doctor forbids you to play.
• You become impatient while scrolling down to your year of birth.
• Your parents have stopped trying to change you.
• You don’t want to be with the cool people anymore; you want to be with your people.
• You realize that everyone is winging it, some just do it more confidently.
• You know that it’s ok if you don’t like jazz.
Internationally best-selling author and New York Times contributor Pamela Druckerman leads us on a quest for wisdom, self-knowledge and the right pair of pants. A witty dispatch from the front lines of the forties, There Are No Grown-ups is a (midlife) coming-of-age story, and a book for anyone trying to find their place in the world.
“What makes Druckerman’s writing in both French Children Don’t Throw Food and her latest book, There Are No Grown-Ups, so entertaining and addictive is her insatiable curiosity about humans and culture, her incessant research, and her extraordinary, comical honesty. Few people could write a book that tackles a threesome as a fortieth birthday present, different cultural attitudes towards ageing, and sudden, life-threatening illness with such a consistent spirit of enquiry, humour, and humility.
—Elke Power, Readings
“Half memoir and half ironic how-to guide, Druckerman’s book is not only a humorous meditation on the gains and pains of a time in life ‘when you become who you are’; it is also a thought-provoking meditation on ‘what it means to be a grown-up.’ A trenchant and witty book on maturity and ‘middle-age shock.’”
—Kirkus
“This well-researched book will keep you laughing and pondering what it really means to grow older.”
—Woman’s Day
“Druckerman, a New York Times columnist and author of the bestselling “Bringing Up Bébé,” has a particular genius for melding the universally-shared occurrence with her own, very specific experience as an American woman living in Paris. She’s at the height of her power here.”
–Alison Buckholtz, The Florida Times-Union
“Essayist Druckerman is both droll and wise on facing the inevitability (and occasional upsides!) of aging.”
–People Magazine
“Druckerman has a keen eye, a wicked sense of humour and is cynical enough, as a former journalist, to know that we shouldn’t take it all too seriously.”
–The Sydney Morning Herald
“[A] bracing primer…about life since turning 40…consistently entertaining and endearingly self-doubting.”
—The Bookseller (Editor’s Choice)
“Pamela Druckerman is a Nora Ephron for a new generation. Need I say more?”
—Susan Taylor from Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza
“The book is a hilarious memoir-esque look at life, reflecting on the things she notices about herself, her surroundings, and everything in between.”
—Miami New Times
“Pamela Druckerman brings her irresistible combination of wit, humility, curiosity and insight to topics as grown-up as facing mortality and planning a threesome in her new book, which is sure to delight anyone undergoing, contemplating, or recovering from middle age. There Are No Grown-ups is a sparkling meditation on what it means to come of age as a modern human being.”
—Ariel Levy, author of The Rules Do Not Apply
“Anyone in their forties will read this book and recognize so many of Druckerman’s brilliant observations and honest feelings. If ‘forty is the old age of youth and fifty is the youth of old age,’ this book hilariously meanders the purgatory of what’s in between.”
—Jill Kargman, author of Momzilla
“Pamela Druckerman explores the challenges of being forty-something by sharing her own experiences with a deep, hilarious honesty. From her real-life struggles, she finds wise lessons that can help guide us all through this stage of life. There Are No Grown-Ups will make you laugh out loud. It’s funny because it’s true.”
—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Four Tendencies and The Happiness Project
Discussing There Are No Grown-Ups at the American Library in Paris:
Media and Reviews
The New York Times
A Warning to Women of a Certain Age: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Nightdress
The Boston Globe
Into the tossed, uncharted waters of turning 40
All Things Considered
Advice For ‘Grown-Ups’ In Their 40s: ‘Just Do What You Want More Often’
The Florida Times-Union Book Review: Essayist finds herself at 40
BookPage
Pamela Druckerman – Figuring Out Forty
Good Morning America
How to Live Your Best Life in Your 40s
The Times (UK)
An Exclusive Extract from There Are No Grown-Ups
On Point
What It Means To Be ‘Middle-Aged’
The Guardian
So now you’re middle-aged? Pamela Druckerman can walk you through it
The Telegraph
From style to picking lovers, French women cope better being middle-aged, author says