Grand

A Memoir

By: Sara Schaefer

Narrated by: Sara Schaefer

Emmy Award–winning writer Sara Schaefer’s hilariously honest memoir follows her “on this wild river descent into the Grand Canyon and her own secret family history. This is a Class 1000 Rapids of a memoir and I urge you to take the ride” (John Hodgman, author of Vacationland). Perfect for fans of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.

When Sara Schaefer is in first grade, her father warns her to always tell the truth because one lie leads to another and soon you will find yourself in a hole you can’t escape. A few years later, the Schaefer family is completely upended when it’s revealed that their grand life is based on a lie. Her parents become pariahs in their upper middle class community and go from non-religious people to devout church members. The idea of good and evil as binary, opposed forces is a lesson she never forgets.

The year she turns forty, Sara decides to take each member of her family on a one-on-one vacation culminating with a whitewater rafting journey through the Grand Canyon with her sister. The only problem is she’s terrified of rafting. Along the way, she grapples with unresolved grief over the death of her mother and the family scandal that changed the trajectory of her life.

“Funny, sweet, heartbreaking, vulnerable, and powerfully written” (Moshe Kasher, author of Kasher in the Rye), Grand is “a wise, funny acknowledgment that we are not always in control—and that growth is most likely to happen when we let go” (BookPage).

A joy from start to finish.

This beautifully told story weaves together a bunch of other beautiful stories and leaves a tapestry of warm fuzzies, laughter, and tears of inspiration and hope. I’m honored to have heard her story and I think anyone would enjoy it thoroughly.

tarantula on-ramp

I originally began this book because of the tarantula on-ramp bit from the sample (made me cackle) and the theme of an adult sister trip in nature out of their comfort zones, something I'd like to do with my sister who also happens to be my best friend. Randomly stumbled across one of Sara's stand-up acts, thought she was hilarious and realized that it's the same person who wrote this, so I had to check it out. Glad I did. It was so much more than I expected. Experiences on the sister trek, interspersed with great stories of lighthearted and also heavy life stuff that I deeply related to. I'm very grateful for how blunt she is about the embarrassing stuff. Sara is a brilliant, humble, honest, and hilarious writer. She is now a role model of mine.

Hilariously, terrifyingly, Restoringly Real

Beautiful story full of practically every kind of heartache, laughter and joy. She’s SO funny and honest. Loved it!

Amazing!

I loved it, the stories were heartfelt and funny. I'm always amazed when an author is brave enough to put their life on display and share their triumphs and struggles with the world. The author does an incredible job with the narration, you can feel her emotions and the truth in her words. If you're a person you should listen to this book!

All the feels

I just finished listening to Sara’s memoir and holy moly, it was so freaking beautiful! What a gorgeously told story, so vivid, so genuine, so seamlessly woven, I had all of the feels. TRULY SPLENDID! Do yourself a favor and purchase the audiobook so you can hear the author herself take you on this unforgettable journey. You will be so glad you did!