The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays

Nora Ephron meets Leslie Jamison. From the acclaimed author of The Unspeakable and The Problem with Everything comes a new collection of unputdownable essays. ‘For the last five or six years, on many afternoons around 4 or 5 p.m., I’ve been overcome with the sensation that my life is effectively over. This is not a sensation of the world ending; it’s a distinct feeling of being at the end of my days. My time, while technically not “up,” is disappearing in the rearview mirror. The fact that this feeling of ambient doom tends to coincide with the blue-tinged, pre-gloaming light of the late afternoon lends to the whole thing a cosmic beauty, as devastating as it is awe-inspiring. As such, I’ve dubbed this the catastrophe hour.’ Written between 2016 and 2024, these essays are classic Daum, showcasing her wit, her intellect and her uncanny ability to throw new light on even the most ubiquitous of subjects. Delving into divorce, dating, music, friendship, beauty, aging, death and money, Daum’s unflinching honesty and exacting observations secure her reputation as one of our most important and enduring essayists.