title: Break in Case of Emergency: A novel
author:  Jessica Winter 
description: A funny and moving commentary on that point in a woman's life when everything seems to come into question."<br />Camille Perri,<i>The New York Times<br /></i><br />"It's the superb insights and penetrating writing that make this book remarkable... An extraordinary debut." <br /><i>The Guardian</i><br /><br />"Enthralling, sharply observed"<br /><i>Marie Claire</i><br /><br />"Hilarious... The personal and workplace plots are woven together beautifully. Read, cringe, laugh, relate." <br /><i>Lenny</i><br /><br />"In thiscutting commentary on workplace toxicity and how its tendrils can strangle relationships, Winter uses humor to illuminate the state of modern work, family, and friendship." <br />Elle.com<br /><br />Winters sharp perceptions and fluent prose are so much fun to experienceAchingly real. <i>Bookforum</i><br /><br />Might just be the go-to read of the summer. <br />Brit + Co.<br /><br />"Curious, captivating."<br /><i>Kirkus Reviews<br /></i><br />"Entertaining and smartly satirical...This is both a biting lampoon of workplace politics and a heartfelt search for meaning in modern life."<br /><i>PublishersWeekly<br /></i><br />"<i>Break in Case of Emergency<i></i></i>is a high-quality tribute to ordinary experience, which makes it an extraordinary debut." <br /><i>The Guardian</i><br /><br />"Brilliant...wry and unerringly sharp." <br /><i>Refinery29</i><br /><br />"A complex and intelligent examination of womens lives, privilege and power, and friendship. Winter explores what it means to have a voice, and how and when to use it." <br />Natalie Bakopoulos, <i>The San Francisco Chronicle</i><br /><br /><b>Praise:</b><br /><br /><br />"If you need a New York map of our times, have Jessica Winter become your cartographer. Sassy, sarcastic and sleek, this is a wonderfully brash appraisal of how we live."<br />Colum McCann, National Book Awardwinning author of <i>Let the Great World Spin</i><br /><br /><br />Jessica Winter is so insanely whip-smart and her novel, which I could not stop reading, made me see the world differently whenever I lifted my eyes from the pages. Winter possesses that magical ability to render the familiar absurd and the absurd familiar, and to create characters that break your heart. BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY is one of those books I considered my companion, and I missed it when it was over. <br />Heidi Julavits, author of <i>The Folded Clock</i><br /><br /><br />Jessica Winter has given us not just one of the funniest books of the year, but an entire glorious comic universe thats as addictive as it is immersive. Not a page goes by without a half dozen delights. Half dozen to a dozen. Sometimes more.<br />Ed Park, author of <i>Personal Days</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>Break in Case of Emergency</i> is compelling, funny, sad, moving, and ultimately uplifting. Winter is one of the best satirists of the workplace I've read in years; she has a deadly ear for the belief-defying hypocrisies of the office and the art world. But she's also a tender portraitist of the bonds of love, family, and friendship, and of the thousand little (and not so little) ways a person can defeat herself in the search for happiness. I couldn't put this book down.<br />Paul La Farge, author of <i>Luminous Airplanes</i><br /><br /><br /><i>Break In Case of Emergency</i>is brimming with sharp, bitingly funny commentary on the absurdities that abound in the world of celebrity philanthropy, and the seeming impossibilities of modern adulthood, but it also gives us smart, lovable characters to guide us through the maze.<br />Caroline Zancan, author of <i>Local Girls</i><br /><i><br /></i><br />Jessica Winter nails the moment in your life when you go from young to no longer youngthat see-saw teetering point between your 20s and 30s, and its specific mix of ignorance youll be embarrassed by later, and confidence youll someday wish you could have back. If youre wondering what its like to live in New York when youre young, just buy Jessica Winters book. Its funny, satirical, and deftly written. And its much cheaper than a 2-bedroom in Brooklyn.<br />Mike Schur, co-creator of <i>Parks and Recreation<br /><br /></i><br />"Extremely funny  a satirical masterpiece that is tender and existentially-minded as well. I loved it!"<br />Elizabeth McKenzie, author of<i>The Portable Veblen</i><br /><br /><br />"Very smart and juicy and weird and entertaining...it reads like a chick-lit plot written by Jonathan Franzen." <br />Curtis Sittenfeld, author of <i>Eligible</i>
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  ![Cover for In Case of Emergency](../images/9781524744571_cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # ALSO BY E. G. SCOTT
  
  
  
  
  
  The Woman Inside
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![Book title, In Case of Emergency, Subtitle, A Novel, author, E. G. Scott,
  imprint, Dutton](../images/9781524744571_title_page.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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