Today Will Be Different

In her latest brainy, seriously funny novel, private school parents, a husband's secret life and more confront a Seattle woman * Editors' Choice, New York Times Book Review * Today will be different, Eleanor Flood tells herself, and oh baby hang on for a wild ride that's like nothing Eleanor sees coming. In this brilliant depiction of a woman hanging on by her fingernails, Maria Semple delivers a perfect panic of a day on which the barely tolerable, muddle-through-it desperation that so many of us have known at one time or another suddenly erupts with life-shattering force. Can an existential crisis make us laugh? Such is Semple's talent that this one does, without losing any of the punch or gravity of the hardest kinds of lived experience -- Ben Fountain, author of BRIEF ENCOUNTERS WITH CHE GUEVARA Today Will Be Different is a sublimely funny and inventive novel driven by Maria Semple's razor-sharp observations and a voice that leaps from the page -- Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins Fans of Bernadette will recognize Semple's propulsive and satirical dialogue -- Trine Tsouderos * Chicago Tribune * Today Will Be Different starts off as a funny, rant-y novel and becomes, by its end, an unexpectedly heartfelt exploration of a woman's inner life. (And yes, it's still funny.) -- Moira Macdonald * Seattle Times * Crackling with honesty and heart -- Jarry Lee * BuzzFeed * Written with Semple's hilarity-cum-sincerity, Eleanor grapples with the past to reconcile her future and makes readers smile -- Steph Opitz * Marie Claire * Brisk, amusing and engaging, and Semple is a champion observer of the human condition -- Connie Ogle * Miami Herald * A zesty, memorable novel -- Suzy Feay * Guardian * Wickedly funny... Semple's trademark dark humor and knack for creating a page-turning story out of socially awkward interactions will make this one you can't put down - and won't want to -- Adam Rathe * Town and Country * Quirky and blade-sharp -- Tina Jordan and Isabella Biedenharn * Entertainment Weekly * A vivid, hilarious, remarkably compact book - 271 pages' worth of crisp observations and occasionally too-close-to-home truths about modern relationships. And it's anchored by a gorgeous scrapbook-slash-mini-graphic novel -- Brian Raftery * Wired * Deliciously mucky mayhem * San Francisco Chronicle * Semple brilliantly conveys a whole array of angst - self-deprecation and existential dread and a panic attack of neuroses - while simultaneously packing in a liberal dose of levity... It's a joy to watch Eleanor struggle to change for the better. That we get to laugh along with her is an added bonus -- Maris Kreizman * Los Angeles Times * Outrageously funny. But [Today Will Be Different] cuts closer to the bone than Bernadette did, and its main character's problems feel more real.... Ms. Semple is an immensely appealing writer, and there's something universal in her heroine's efforts to get a handle on a life spinning out of control. We may not all have long-lost sisters who live in the most crazily status-obsessed corners of the South, but we surely know what she means about waking up each dawn with new resolve that melts by midmorning -- Janet Maslin * New York Times * A little bit wacky and always wise, and we recognize people we know - including ourselves - on every page -- Elisabeth Egan * Glamour * Loopy, deeply and darkly funny, and brave... Semple is a master of the social skewer, boldly impolite and impolitic... Eleanor is as sharp and Semple-esque as they come, which is to say a delightful danger to herself and others, sympathetic, and so very smart -- Elinor Lipman * Washington Post * Readers who devoured Where'd You Go, Bernadette will love Eleanor [Flood]'s wry voice and dark humor -- Kim Hubbard * People * Writing a comedy novel that manages to connect emotionally is no easy task, but Semple knocks it out of the park. Today Will Be Different is hilarious, moving and written perfectly, and it makes a good case for Semple as one

Maria Semple spent fifteen years in Los Angeles as a television writer, working on hit shows including ELLEN, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, MAD ABOUT YOU and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. Her second novel, WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE, was an international bestseller and was shortlisted for the 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction and won the 2013 Melissa Nathan Award. Maria lives in Seattle. www.mariasemple.com