Victoria Zackheim

I dearly love this collection. Sadly, it was published at the height of Covid and, like so many books, never got the planned exposure: bookstore readings, television interviews, writers' conferences... everything was cancelled. Alas.

In this unconventional collection, twenty-four acclaimed essayists and novelists share personal stories of finding humor in the face of death. From Malachy McCourt revealing what really happened to Angela's ashes, to Jacquelyn Mitchard describing her husband's wake and what happened to his three close friends (think: trapped in a mental hospital), these true stories remind us that whether we face death with fear, humor, sorrow, joy, or confusion, we cannot deny that death happens. With this anthology, readers are reminded that t’s acceptable—and often even beneficial—to laugh through our tears.


“From beloved husbands to difficult mothers and more, this moving and often fiercely funny collection illuminates with grace, humor, and a few belly laughs the way someone’s death can change our lives.”—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times best-selling author of Pictures of You

“In a culture where the discussion of death is basically taboo, the authors in Exit Laughing relate their stories with candor, compassion, love, and yes, humor. A perfect mix of gravitas and levity to the subject nobody wants to talk about: mortality. As funny and poignant as Harold and Maude, Exit Laughing makes it clear that even the Grim Reaper will put on a monkey face and maybe even giggle, when tickled.”—Sara Pritchard, author of Crackpots and Help Wanted: Female

“I love this anthology! Absorbing, poignantly moving, but most of all, profoundly life-affirming.”—Sandra Gulland, best-selling author of Mistress of the Sun and The Josephine B. Trilogy

“This gem of an anthology about what we fear, avoid, would rather not mention, let alone read about—death—is the funniest book I’ve read in years. Exit Laughing is a bold, outrageous, never sanctimonious, death-defying collection that looks straight in the eye of the inevitable while making you laugh real tears.”
—Beverly Donofrio, author of Riding in Cars with Boys and Looking for Mary

I love you. The meeting ran late. I want a divorce. One little word, one casual lie, one devastating announcement and our lives are turned upside down forever. In He Said What? Women Write About Moments When Everything Changed, 25 gifted women writers share profoundly personal moments in which a man in their life said something good or bad that changed them irrevocably. Funny, provocative, touching, and thrilling, He Said What? illustrates the powerful impact the right—and yes, even the wrong—words can have on a person’s life, and perhaps change that life forever.

In this upbeat, poignant, and sometimes hysterically funny collection, we are reminded of this: As much as we like to believe that we have full control of the circumstances of our lives—love, health, relationships—we do not. No matter how successful we are, how many books we have written or children we have launched, no matter how many business deals we’ve closed and illnesses or injuries we’ve overcome, life continues to remind us that the control we have fought so hard to attain can quickly slip away. And while many of us are able to regain that control, we cannot ignore the message that hovers out there, just beyond the coast of consciousness: Our bodies are for keeps. No matter what life brings us, we must forge ahead and celebrate life.

When you were in your youth -- riding your bicycle, playing stickball, learning how to knit, sitting too close to that old black-and-white television, attending the senior prom -- did you look in the mirror and imagine yourself in any way close to the person you are today? And now that you are here, in this place, at this age, do you look back with longing at the old dreams and expectations? Perhaps you are delighted, even surprised, by what you have achieved.

Did those dreams come true? Perhaps a more important question: Was your future defined by your own dreams, or by the dreams and expectations of others? Some authors in this collection were encouraged by the people in their lives, while others have succeeded despite them. Authors include Malachy McCourt, Eileen Goudge, Joyce Maynard, Leon Whiteson, Sandra Gulland, Christine O’Hagan, Alan Dershowitz, and more.

From some of America's top writers comes a groundbreaking, compulsively readable and bestselling anthology about that taboo subject -- women who steal husbands and lovers from other women, the consequences for those left behind, and the impact made by the vixen, the Lorelei, the Jezebel ... the bitch ... on families and our futures. Contributing authors include Jane Smiley, Susan Cheever, Lynn Freed, Caroline Leavitt, Dani Shapiro, Pam Houston, Mary Jo Eustace, and more.

Following the death of her lifelong friend, Mimi sets off on a journey to discover how she came to this lonely place in her life, and why she runs from the opportunity to love. The Bone Weaver is a blend of history and fiction created around three generations of women and their struggles to survive pogroms, illness and the violence of shtetl life in nineteenth-century eastern Europe. Taking apart the family tapestry thread by thread, studying these women and their lives of uncertainty, tragedy and joy, Mimi learns about courage and the will to survive. As she discovers what makes these women remarkable, she discovers herself.