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The Celebrants: A Read with Jenna Pick

by Steven Rowley

A friendship pact revisited at the edge of a new decade

Bestseller
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Awards & Recognition

  • Bestseller

    New York Times Bestseller

    Identified in the supplied metadata as a New York Times bestseller.

  • Book club selection

    TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick

    Selected as a Read with Jenna book club pick.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A friendship pact revisited at the edge of a new decade

Jordan Vargas and four college friends have kept a decades-old tradition: gathering in Big Sur to hold “living funerals” for one another, honoring a person while they are still there to hear it. Past reunions have met friends at major turning points; now, nearly three decades after graduation, the group faces another gathering shaped by Jordan’s undisclosed secret. The setup links the friends’ changing adult lives with the promises that have held them together, while making friendship itself part of the book’s central question: how people help one another recognize the value of a life still in progress.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in stories about long-standing friendships across adulthood.
  • Readers drawn to fiction centered on promises, life transitions, and chosen gatherings.
  • Readers interested in a novel built around the unusual ritual of living funerals.

Themes

Long-term friendshipAdult identity and life transitionsPromises and mutual supportCelebrating life amid hardship

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

New York Times Bestseller

A TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick

A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises--especially to ourselves--by the bestselling and beloved author of The Guncle.


It's been a minute--or five years--since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Though not for a lack of trying. Over the years they've reunited in Big Sur to honor a decades-old pact to throw each other living "funerals," celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living--that their lives mean something, to one another if not to themselves.

But this reunion is different. They're not gathered as they were to bolster Marielle as her marriage crumbled, to lift Naomi after her parents died, or to intervene when Craig pleaded guilty to art fraud. This time, Jordan is sitting on a secret that will upend their pact.

A deeply honest tribute to the growing pains of selfhood and the people who keep us going, coupled with Steven Rowley's signature humor and heart, The Celebrants is a moving tale about the false invincibility of youth and the beautiful ways in which friendship helps us celebrate our lives, even amid the deepest challenges of living.
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Customer reviews

M
AlbakiReads
Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

T
AlbakiReads
Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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AlbakiReads
Olivia

Smooth.