{"product_id":"9781982168315","title":"This Will All Be Over Soon : A Memoir","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThis Will All Be Over Soon\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Cecily Strong\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA powerful memoir from the \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night Live\u003c\/i\u003e cast member Cecily Strong about grieving the death of her cousin—and embracing the life-affirming lessons he taught her—amid the coronavirus pandemic.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCecily Strong had a special bond with her cousin Owen. And so she was devastated when, in early 2020, he passed away at age thirty from the brain cancer glioblastoma. Before Strong could attempt to process her grief, another tragedy struck: the coronavirus pandemic. Following a few harrowing weeks in the virus epicenter of New York City, Strong relocated to an isolated house in the woods upstate. Here, trying to make sense of Owen’s death and the upended world, she spent much of the ensuing months writing. The result is \u003ci\u003eThis Will All Be Over Soon\u003c\/i\u003e—a raw, unflinching memoir about loss, love, laughter, and hope.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBefitting the time-warped year of 2020, the diary-like approach deftly weaves together the present and the past. Strong chronicles the challenges of beginning a relationship during the pandemic and the fear when her new boyfriend contracts COVID. She describes the pain of losing her friend and longtime \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night Live \u003c\/i\u003estaff member Hal Willner to the virus. She reflects on formative events from her life, including how her high school expulsion led to her pursuing a career in theater and, years later, landing at \u003ci\u003eSNL\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eYet the heart of the book is Owen. Strong offers a poignant account of her cousin’s life, both before and after his diagnosis. Inspired by his unshakable positivity and the valuable lessons he taught her, she has written a book that—as indicated by its title—serves as a moving reminder: whatever challenges life might throw one’s way, they will be over soon. And so will life. So make sure to appreciate every day and don’t take a second of it for granted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e“Cecily Strong peels herself open, creates a reality where depression doesn’t have to be hidden. She has written us a permission slip to process our losses, slowly and fully. To respect pain and grief as life’s companions. To make peace with what’s been permanently changed. There’s still so much we don’t know, but here we are trying. Confronting an ocean’s worth of sadness, sip by sip.”\u003cb\u003e—Chanel Miller, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eKnow My Name\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Whether we realize it or not, the ways we intersect with others define our interior lives. It is a gift to all of us that Cecily Strong chose to wonder out loud about the meaning of loss and the hard work of sustaining hope when your world and the world feel most tenuous.”\u003cb\u003e—Kelly Corrigan, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eTell Me More\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Middle Place \u003c\/i\u003eand host of the podcast \u003ci\u003eKelly Corrigan Wonders\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Honest and heartfelt, Cecily Strong is telling the truth: we have lost too much. This tender book is a call to cherish the people who change us, and the experiences that fill our numbered days with absurdity and wonder.” \u003cb\u003e—Kate Bowler, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eEverything Happens for a Reason (and other lies I’ve loved) \u003c\/i\u003eand host of the podcast \u003ci\u003eEverything Happens with Kate Bowler\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “I really liked Cecily Strong before, from her work on \u003ci\u003eSNL\u003c\/i\u003e. But after reading \u003ci\u003eThis Will All Be Over Soon\u003c\/i\u003e, I want to be president of her fan club. This is a brilliant book: funny, of course—but also poignant, lyrical, searing. Not only is it difficult to put it down; it's impossible to forget.”\u003cb\u003e—Darin Strauss, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eHalf a Life\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Queen of Tuesday\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “With wit and heart and honesty and conversational approachability, this book is an intimate portrait of a very funny person’s very sad year. Her cousin Owen was a gift to this world, and so is this tribute to him. I laughed and cried, sometimes at the same time. This book is like splitting a bottle of wine and weeping with Cecily Strong, my dream scenario.” \u003cb\u003e—Bess Kalb, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eNobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eThis Will All Be Over Soon\u003c\/i\u003e is a radically intimate memoir of love and grief, its narrative stitched together from journal entries, personal anecdotes, even text messages. Cecily Strong’s comedic impulse comes through in her storytelling, but the heart of this book is her vulnerability and brave willingness to see her life clearly, to speak her own truth, and ‘to keep [her] grief as full of love as possible.’ As she writes, ‘the worst year of your life could turn out to be the best year of your life.’ That’s something we all need to hear right now.”\u003cb\u003e—Maggie Smith, author of \u003ci\u003eGoldenrod\u003c\/i\u003e and the national bestseller \u003ci\u003eKeep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e and Chang\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Reading Cecily Strong’s memoir is like sitting down to coffee with an old friend who has been to hell and back since you’ve last seen her and yet she can still make you smile through the pain. She welcomes us into her inner thoughts as she grapples with her cousin’s loss, her new paramour’s COVID plight, and her own anxiety and depression. By letting us into her mind, Cecily has given us a true gift. Access to beauty. Access to humor. Access to what it means to be human. This memoir in its self-aware storytelling format is just so perfect for this time, this period of uncertainty personally and globally, and how one warrior woman copes—or doesn’t. Like the rest of us.”\u003cb\u003e—Zibby Owens, creator and host of the podcast \u003ci\u003eMoms Don’t Have Time to Read Books\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eand editor of\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eMoms Don't Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781982168315\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40592350347470,"sku":"9781982168315","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_c505c54c-71cd-4e44-9446-1e7745025bc6.jpg?v=1637766480","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781982168315","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}