Grief is for People: A Memoir
Feb 2024 · Serpent's Tail
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A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A VOGUE, NEW STATESMAN AND TIME MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF 2024
AN OPRAH PICK OF THE YEAR 2024
'Obviously, Grief Is for People is about grief, but Sloane Crosley can't help being funny' GABRIELLE ZEVIN
'A stunning investigation into the nature of loss' VOGUE
'I am a Crosley fan and, to my mind, this is her best book: subtle, brutal and, amazingly, funny, with twists that made me catch my breath' SUNDAY TIMES
For most of her adult life, Sloane and Russell worked together and played together as they navigated the corridors of office life, the literary world, and the dramatic cultural shifts in New York City. One day, while Russell is still alive, Sloane's apartment is broken into. Along with her most prized possessions, the thief makes off with her sense of security, leaving a mystery in its place.
When Russell dies exactly one month later, his suicide propels her on a wild quest to right the unrightable, to explore what constitutes family and possession as the city itself faces the staggering toll brought on by the pandemic.
Crosley's search for truth is frank, darkly funny, and gilded with a resounding empathy. Upending the 'grief memoir' in this deeply moving and surprisingly suspenseful portrait of friendship, Grief Is for People is a category-defying story of the struggle to hold on to the past without being consumed by it. A modern elegy, it is a book about loss packed with verve for life, rising precisely to console and challenge our notions of mourning during these grief-stricken times.
A VOGUE, NEW STATESMAN AND TIME MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF 2024
AN OPRAH PICK OF THE YEAR 2024
'Obviously, Grief Is for People is about grief, but Sloane Crosley can't help being funny' GABRIELLE ZEVIN
'A stunning investigation into the nature of loss' VOGUE
'I am a Crosley fan and, to my mind, this is her best book: subtle, brutal and, amazingly, funny, with twists that made me catch my breath' SUNDAY TIMES
For most of her adult life, Sloane and Russell worked together and played together as they navigated the corridors of office life, the literary world, and the dramatic cultural shifts in New York City. One day, while Russell is still alive, Sloane's apartment is broken into. Along with her most prized possessions, the thief makes off with her sense of security, leaving a mystery in its place.
When Russell dies exactly one month later, his suicide propels her on a wild quest to right the unrightable, to explore what constitutes family and possession as the city itself faces the staggering toll brought on by the pandemic.
Crosley's search for truth is frank, darkly funny, and gilded with a resounding empathy. Upending the 'grief memoir' in this deeply moving and surprisingly suspenseful portrait of friendship, Grief Is for People is a category-defying story of the struggle to hold on to the past without being consumed by it. A modern elegy, it is a book about loss packed with verve for life, rising precisely to console and challenge our notions of mourning during these grief-stricken times.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A VOGUE, NEW STATESMAN AND TIME MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF 2024
AN OPRAH PICK OF THE YEAR 2024
'Obviously, Grief Is for People is about grief, but Sloane Crosley can't help being funny' GABRIELLE ZEVIN
'A stunning investigation into the nature of loss' VOGUE
'I am a Cr...
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Ratings and reviews
1 review
Arsha Fathima
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September 24, 2026
What I liked about this book is that it doesn’t try to make grief look simple or beautiful. It shows how messy it can be. There are memories, questions, guilt, anger, love, and even moments of humour. Crosley doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, and that made the book feel very real to me. The friendship at the centre of the memoir is also what makes the book so touching. It made me think about how much another person can become a part of your everyday life, and how difficult it is to accept
About the author
Sloane Crosley is the author of the New York Times bestselling essay collections, I Was Told There'd Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number, as well as the bestselling novel, The Clasp. Her work has appeared in the Guardian, New Yorker, Esquire, Vogue, New York Times Magazine and on NPR. She was named as a Guggenheim Fellow in 2025, and is a contributing editor at Interview Magazine and Vanity Fair. She lives in New York.
Sloane Crosley is the author of the New York Times bestselling essay collections, I Was Told There'd Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number, as well as the bestselling novel, The Clasp. Her work has appeared in the Guardian, New Yorker, Esquire, Vogue, New York Times Magazine and on NPR. She was...
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