If there were such a thing as the Goofy Award™ for Fiction, Anxious People would take it home without a doubt. Equal parts absurd, hilarious, and deeply moving, Fredrik Backman delivers a novel that’s both wildly entertaining and unexpectedly profound.
At its core, Anxious People revolves around a hostage situation—but don’t expect a high-octane thriller. Instead, Backman flips the trope on its head. A group of strangers finds themselves trapped in an apartment, each carrying their own baggage: emotional, existential, and otherwise. They span a range of ages, professions, identities, and worldviews, and on the surface, they seem to have little in common. But as the hours unfold, so do their stories—and what begins as chaos gradually turns into connection.
The beauty of this book lies in how it reveals the humanity behind every oddball character. Through misunderstandings, confessions, and even a few ridiculous twists, Anxious People becomes a masterclass in empathy. It reminds us that everyone is living a life more complicated than it appears. If you’ve been stuck in a reading slump, this might just be the quirky, heartwarming story to shake you out of it.
That said, Backman’s humor does occasionally stray into the cheesy, and some plot elements border on the farfetched—but if you lean into the silliness rather than resist it, you’ll find a touching, feel-good tale underneath. And for those who have read it: yes, the bridge pun was entirely intended.
In short: goofy? Definitely. Meaningful? Absolutely.