For those who’ve been sad and tried not to be: 17 stories about the search for joy in a dying world.

Stillhouse | Bookshop |Barnes & Noble

Praise for Sad grownups:

“A powerhouse collection from a promising author.”

—ALA Booklist

“A distinct yet relatable collection of stories about aging, relationships, decisions and (dis)connections. This is a smart, sensitive and satisfying debut.”
—Ms. Magazine 

“In her debut collection, Amy Stuber writes toward hope in a world intent on taking it away. Confronting American consumerism, narrow versions of acceptability, and the worsening climate crisis, Stuber’s writing exhibits sensitivity, urgency, and care. With stories full of clarity and hilarity, the stories in Sad Grownups showcase the true strength of the short story form.”

—Electric Lit

Revelatory, bullseye details bring her characters into relief in a matter of a sentence. There are recurrent themes – adolescence, atonement, motherhood –  but no sense of redundancy. The book is situated squarely in contemporary American life, though her characters often make unexpected decisions and utterances. It’s actually no surprise that this collection has sprung out fully formed, like a wise and battle-ready Athena.”

 —Chicago Review of Books

Perceptive, inventive, surprising, and deeply humane. I binged these stories as if I were bingeing a dramedy…on Netflix. I recognized so much of myself — so much of my own sensibility — in these stories and in these characters…achingly beautiful.”

—Southern Review of Books

“The short stories in Stuber’s collection are kind. They take care of these characters and take care of readers. “Sad” may be in the title and inhabit a lot of the stories, but there is also hope. Reading this collection was like being wrapped in a warm blanket.”
—Debutiful

“These seventeen varied and remarkable stories often start with a curious premise, but open into complex, believable worlds, with rich characterization. Smart, funny, spooky and melancholy,  SAD GROWNUPS is full of unique gems that come together into a rewarding whole.”

 – Dan Chaon, author of Stay Awake 

“There is a cool immediacy, an urgency to these stories that feels like a whispered invitation to read them. But Stuber also handles the often off-kilter characters and tales with such a steady, sure hand that I felt safe and a little in awe. The definition of reading deliciously!”

 – Amber Sparks, author of And I Do Not Forgive You

“Stories that hold the grief of the whole world but also the imaginative exultation of trying to live in it. Stuber writes sentences that are in a class of their own—flexible enough to twist from heartbreak into hilarity, full of observations so precise they leave you gasping. Sad Grownups is a brilliant collection.”

– Clare Beams, author of The Garden and The Illness Lesson

Amy Stuber’s Sad Grownups is a brilliant collection. Each story—each page—surprises with detail both intriguing and unsparing.  Stuber’s characters are complex and presented whole, which is a tough thing to do when you are writing short fiction.  She examines loss, death, grief, parenthood, without sentimentality.  It is that rare book which, when you come to the last page, makes you want to go back to the beginning and experience it once more.  Sad Grownups deserves a wide readership.  

-Jincy Willett, author of Jenny and the Jaws of Life and Winner of the National Book Award

“If emotions had geographical locations, then Amy Stuber’s deeply moving short story collection Sad Grownups took me to those places, but in no way was it like riding a Greyhound bus, hitting each city, each emotion, one at a time. Each story took me to the joyfully complex, lovingly hated yet adored world as it is today, and did so with some of the funniest and saddest characters I’ve read in quite some time. Reading these stories, I lost myself, and when I put the book down, I found myself anew. Sad Grownups is a remarkable debut story collection by a writer who I already want more from.”

– Morgan Talty, national bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit: A Novel

"Wise, inventive, and funny, Sad Grownups is also an incisive collective portrait of contemporary Americans: each story distinctly and decidedly itself, gathered together into a sometimes delightful, sometimes sobering snapshot of what it is to be alive today. In the tradition of Amy Hempel and Lorrie Moore, Amy Stuber is as sharp as she is tender, a delight to read.”  

 – Kate Doyle, author of I Meant it Once 

"The stories in Sad Grownups are masterful. They feel both contemporary and timeless and engage American life today in ways that are at turns funny, insightful, and wise. I couldn't stop reading."

– Cara Blue Adams, author of You Never Get It Back 

“Amy Stuber's stories are about your neighbors and friends, the people you think you know, and what they are all hiding from you: the truth, which is that we are children and will remain so, that we are performing and we don't know it. Stuber's characters fumble through adulthood, they endure the confusing mysteries of growing up, they try to connect and instead create disasters. SAD GROWNUPS marks the arrival of an erudite, controlled, and generous voice from the heart of America. You will love this book.”

 – Richard Mirabella Author of Brother & Sister Enter the Forest