The Mutual Friend cover art

The Mutual Friend

A Novel

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The Mutual Friend

Written by: Carter Bays
Narrated by: George Newbern
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About this listen

"This is a rare thing: an original, intelligent novel that’s not just a perfect summer beach read, but one that deserves serious awards consideration as well. Put down your phone and pick it up… A major accomplishment.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the co-creator of How I Met Your Mother, a hilarious and thought-provoking debut novel set in New York City, following an unforgettable cast of characters as they navigate life, love, loss, ambition, and spirituality—without ever looking up from their phones.

It’s the summer of 2015, and Alice Quick needs to get to work. She’s twenty-eight years old, grieving her mother, barely scraping by as a nanny, and freshly kicked out of her apartment. If she can just get her act together and sign up for the MCAT, she can start chasing her dream of becoming a doctor . . . but in the Age of Distraction, the distractions are so distracting. There’s her tech millionaire brother’s religious awakening. His picture-perfect wife’s emotional breakdown. Her chaotic new roommate’s thirst for adventure. And, of course, there’s the biggest distraction of all: love.

From within the story of one summer in one woman’s life, a tapestry of characters is unearthed, tied to one another by threads both seen and unseen. Filled with all the warmth, humor, and heart that gained How I Met Your Mother its cult following, The Mutual Friend captures in sparkling detail the chaos of contemporary life—a life lived simultaneously in two different worlds, the physical one and the one behind our screens—and reveals how connected we all truly are.

©2022 Carter Bays (P)2022 Penguin Audio
Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Women's Fiction Summer Funny Heartfelt Witty
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What the critics say

“A whip-smart comedy of manners for the era of buzzing gadgets.”—The Washington Post

“Carter Bays is best known for the long-running sitcom How I Met Your Mother. His debut novel The Mutual Friend is like a sophisticated literary version, centering on a New York City–based ensemble with plenty to say about the discontents of modern life and the difficulty of connection.”—NPR

“The first book I’ve read that effectively captures social media’s dominance in our love lives, and the humiliating experience of being online and yearning for attention. The Mutual Friend is gentle, warm, and the most I have laughed while reading this year.”—BuzzFeed, “25 Book Recommendations for the Holiday Season”

What listeners say about The Mutual Friend

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Run on and on

The story was cute. The performance cheery. But it was one long run on sentence. The story bopped around and was at times hard to follow. But I got through it.

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