American Fantasy
May 2026 · Random House
Ebook
400
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
infoThis book will become available on May 14, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
EMBARK ON THE JOYOUS AND NOSTALGIC JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME IN THE LATEST NOVEL FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THIS TIME TOMORROW AND ALL ADULTS HERE
'SUCH A FUN, DELICIOUS, BIG-HEARTED BOOK' Taylor Jenkins Reid
'I CAN HARDLY REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I READ ANYTHING THAT BROUGHT ME SUCH PURE JOY' Ann Patchett
'I WAS COMPLETELY SWEPT AWAY BY MY LOVE FOR THE CHARACTERS' Coco Mellors
'HOPEFUL AND SO MUCH FUN. I CAN'T TELL YOU THE ENJOYMENT IT GAVE ME' Marian Keyes
'YOU WILL FEEL SO UNDERSTOOD BY THIS NOVEL' Rainbow Rowell
---
Annie is on a journey straight back to her past.
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous 1990s boyband, and three thousand women who have worshipped them since their youth.
Newly divorced and with an empty nest, Annie is on board as a lark to appease her sister. Once a diehard fan of the band as a teen, she now feels out of place amid the sea of bedazzling t-shirts bearing the singers’ faces. Yet when the lights go down, the cocktails are poured and the band starts singing, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself.
As she encounters Keith, the band’s slightly depressed, fifty-something lead singer – not just a celebrity but someone clearly in need of a friend – she feels like anything is possible.
But is the connection between Annie and Keith just a fantasy? Or is this the beginning of a new chapter for them both?
Full of laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, nostalgia, marriage and growing up, American Fantasy celebrates the magic of revisiting our youth, and the even greater magic of starting anew.
---
PRAISE FOR EMMA STRAUB
'Has all the pleasures of reading one of Anne Tyler's compelling family portraits' NEW YORK TIMES
'Nostalgic, wise, funny, and filled with love' GABRIELLE ZEVIN on This Time Tomorrow
'Smart, compelling, irresistible' LIANE MORIARTY on Modern Lovers
'Her warmth and sense of humour electrify every page' NEW YORK MAGAZINE
'SUCH A FUN, DELICIOUS, BIG-HEARTED BOOK' Taylor Jenkins Reid
'I CAN HARDLY REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I READ ANYTHING THAT BROUGHT ME SUCH PURE JOY' Ann Patchett
'I WAS COMPLETELY SWEPT AWAY BY MY LOVE FOR THE CHARACTERS' Coco Mellors
'HOPEFUL AND SO MUCH FUN. I CAN'T TELL YOU THE ENJOYMENT IT GAVE ME' Marian Keyes
'YOU WILL FEEL SO UNDERSTOOD BY THIS NOVEL' Rainbow Rowell
---
Annie is on a journey straight back to her past.
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous 1990s boyband, and three thousand women who have worshipped them since their youth.
Newly divorced and with an empty nest, Annie is on board as a lark to appease her sister. Once a diehard fan of the band as a teen, she now feels out of place amid the sea of bedazzling t-shirts bearing the singers’ faces. Yet when the lights go down, the cocktails are poured and the band starts singing, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself.
As she encounters Keith, the band’s slightly depressed, fifty-something lead singer – not just a celebrity but someone clearly in need of a friend – she feels like anything is possible.
But is the connection between Annie and Keith just a fantasy? Or is this the beginning of a new chapter for them both?
Full of laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, nostalgia, marriage and growing up, American Fantasy celebrates the magic of revisiting our youth, and the even greater magic of starting anew.
---
PRAISE FOR EMMA STRAUB
'Has all the pleasures of reading one of Anne Tyler's compelling family portraits' NEW YORK TIMES
'Nostalgic, wise, funny, and filled with love' GABRIELLE ZEVIN on This Time Tomorrow
'Smart, compelling, irresistible' LIANE MORIARTY on Modern Lovers
'Her warmth and sense of humour electrify every page' NEW YORK MAGAZINE
About the author
Emma Straub is the New York Times bestselling author of four novels, The Vacationers, Modern Lovers, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, All Adults Here and the short story collection Other People We Married. Her books have been published in twenty countries. She and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York.
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