Foreverland

On the Divine Tedium of Marriage

De: Heather Havrilesky

Narrado por: Heather Havrilesky

“Full of razor-sharp, big-hearted wisdom…. Couples should read this book aloud to each other instead of writing vows. People who never want to get married should read this book anyway.” —Leslie Jamison

An illuminating, poignant, and savagely funny examination of modern marriage from Ask Polly advice columnist Heather Havrilesky

If falling in love is the peak of human experience, then marriage is the slow descent down that mountain, on a trail built from conflict, compromise, and nagging doubts. Considering the limited economic advantages to marriage, the deluge of other mate options a swipe away, and the fact that almost half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce anyway, why do so many of us still chain ourselves to one human being for life?

In Foreverland, Heather Havrilesky illustrates the delights, aggravations, and sublime calamities of her marriage over the span of fifteen years, charting an unpredictable course from meeting her one true love to slowly learning just how much energy is required to keep that love aflame. This refreshingly honest portrait of a marriage reveals that our relationships are not simply “happy” or “unhappy,” but something much murkier—at once unsavory, taxing, and deeply satisfying. With tales of fumbled proposals, harrowing suburban migrations, external temptations, and the bewildering insults of growing older, Foreverland is a work of rare candor and insight. Havrilesky traces a path from daydreaming about forever for the first time to understanding what a tedious, glorious drag forever can be.

Wish there were more books like this about marriage

I laughed, I cried. Wish there were more books like this about marriage. Full of many fun, interesting, relatable anecdotes. Loved the narration. Poetic, witty, sharp & beautifully written.

Caustic first third turns into a much better book later

The author tries too hard to shock in the beginning and to impress upon us how smart and witty and sarcastic and obnoxious she is. Her descriptions of her husband are simply uncalled for. I almost stopped reading the book because of that. But I’m glad I didn’t as the last 2/3 were more poignant, more funny, and more descriptive of what real life and real marriage are like.

True romance.

The most romantic book since “My Life in Paris!” So funny and relatable and clearheaded.

When Me Me Me is about you

Why read about somebody else’s marriage and life experiences? After all, we have pretty individualized experiences of their own. But Heather Halvrilesky is always funny and cynical in that Gen X way that reminds me somewhere out there, are still people my own age, shaped by similar cultural forces, and still living the life they have while they can. Without spoiling too much I hope, I’m most grateful for the part about facing the possibility of serios illness ON TOP of COVID and everything else that would be there anyway. As Mitch Hedberg would say “that’s a triple whammy”. Man was I there, and reading this book was like finding a little message in a bottle to remind me I’m not so alone on this crazy train.

Seeking High-Strung Perfectionist With Tentacles

Dear Heather - I fell in love with your book because I fell in love with you. Your writing made you feel at once familiar and mysterious, super bright and definitely trouble, ill-tempered and hot. I hate to ruin the brilliant conclusion of your brilliant tome - and it really IS - but forget about Bill and run away with me. Just trust me: you won’t care that I’m a generation older or on crutches because we share the same sense of humor, sense of longing, itch for sexiness, itch from claustrophobia - and just desire for desire simply for desire’s sake. On the other hand, maybe we’d best enjoy each other from a safe distance - at least, that’s my wife’s opinion. Just know that Foreverland will always be one of my favorite books and that you will be on my mind, forcing quotes out of my face almost on a daily basis because you really got love, life and relationships right - for me anyway, because we’re soulmates. I’m almost sure of it. But if we’re not, can we fool around anyway?! -Love, A Real Fan