You Only Call When You're in Trouble

January 2024
Henry Holt & Co.

Formats

Hardcover, Digital, Audio

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An Indie Next Pick for January 2024

Is it ever okay to stop caring for others and start living for yourself?

After a lifetime of taking care of his impossible but irresistible sister and his cherished niece, Tom is ready to put himself first. An architect specializing in tiny houses, he finally has an opportunity to build his masterpiece—"his last shot at leaving a footprint on the dying planet." Assuming, that is, he can stick to his resolution to keep the demands of his needy family at bay.

Naturally, that's when his phone rings.

His niece, Cecily—the real love of Tom's life, as his boyfriend reminded him when moving out—is embroiled in a Title IX investigation at the college where she teaches that threatens her career and relationship. And after decades of lying, his sister wants him to help her tell Cecily the real identity of her father.

Tom does what he's always done—answers the call. Thus begins a journey that will change everyone's life and demonstrate the beauty or dysfunction (or both?) of the ties that bind families together and sometimes strangle them.

Warm, funny, and deeply moving, You Only Call When You're in Trouble is an unforgettable showcase for Stephen McCauley's distinctive voice and unique ability to create complex characters that jump off the page and straight into your heart.

Video

Steve appeared in conversation with author Caroline Leavitt, co-founder of A Mighty Blaze, in January to discuss You Only Call When You're in Trouble.

Praise for You Only Call When You're in Trouble

"Stephen McCauley sits on my I-know-it'll-be-funny-and-smart-about-people bookshelf right next to Elinor Lipman and Cathleen Schine. . . . McCauley is gifted at character details that are amusing but also help us understand why his people behave the way they do." Chris Hewitt, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"A wryly funny family drama interlaced with astute observations about aging and academia." People Magazine

"A wonderful book. Stephen McCauley is one of my favorite writers...the best at these dysfunctional, melancholy, but thrilling...social comedies." Bill Goldstein, on NBC's "Today in New York"

"From the bestselling author of The Object of My Affection and My Ex-Life comes a bighearted and quick-witted story that asks: At what point does devotion tighten into a chokehold? A boisterous family drama laced through with razor-sharp insight, this book will make you laugh, think, and want to call your mom—or your golden-hearted gay uncle, if you happen to have one handy." Oprah Daily

"Champagne bubbles pop and vanish, but a good comic novel is a steady mood lifter, especially during these flat post-holiday weeks of the new year. Enter Stephen McCauley, whose novels have been brightening spirits since 1987. McCauley's new novel... offers readers not only the expansive gift of laughter but, also, a more expansive image of what family can be. In its own sparkling way, You Only Call When You're in Trouble, is concerned with the question of endings, of what we leave behind—whether it be our work, our worst mistakes, our most loving-if-flawed relationships." NPR

"It's a testament to McCauley's prescience, faith and talent for fictional world-building that his eighth novel—the first in five years—resumes the wish-and-make-it-true fiction that he and other gay authors started publishing decades ago. In You Only Call When You're in Trouble, McCauley drops us into a real-life land, somewhat resembling ours now, in which sexual orientation is part of the landscape, not an unnatural disaster, and love is love (and mishegoss), no matter its form....whatever your politics and predilections, McCauley's gifts for prose, plot and provocation are likely to offer you a few fast-flying hours in his sunny, slightly futuristic world." The Washington Post

"Another chronicle of modern disappointments and their occasional consolations from a master of the modern social novel." Kirkus Reviews

"Every page pleases... The story is beautifully written and replete with laugh-out-loud pronouncements... Add to this fully realized, empathic characters (well, a few of them are real stinkers), and you have an unmitigated delight and a book that you'll hate to see end." Booklist (starred review)

"I read You Only Call When You're in Trouble at a moment when I needed to be around the intelligence and humanity of the novel's characters, and I'm still grateful for being so happily entertained and totally engrossed." Francine Prose, author of Blue Angel and The Vixen

"I can't find the words to say how much I love You Only Call When You're in Trouble. This perfect novel has profoundly moving observations of human nature, emotional acuity, and brilliant insights wrapped up in warmth and wit. I don't think I will find a book I love more this year." Jane Green, New York Times bestselling author

"There is no greater pleasure than reading a seasoned writer at the top of his form. Since his celebrated debut, The Object of My Affection, 36 years ago, Stephen McCauley (My Ex-Life) has produced comedic literary gems. You Only Call When You're in Trouble ... may be his best yet. A novel that is rife with situational comedy, dramatic secrets, and hard-earned wisdom. This incandescent mixture of observational humor and humane characterizations makes Stephen McCauley worth calling on again and again." Dave Wheeler, Shelf Awareness

"McCauley's novels are always a cause for celebration, and You Only Call When You're in Trouble shows why: funny, poignant, joyous, explosive, but most of all affirming of our connections to one another." Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Less Is Lost

"Picture F. Scott Fitzgerald with tongue in cheek and you get the gift of Stephen McCauley's You Only Call When You're in Trouble. I love these deliciously flawed characters and every thought that runs through their heads. As with all things Stephen McCauley, it has the highest of wit and the sharpest of social commentary plus tenderness and much love." Elinor Lipman, author of Ms. Demeanor

"Stephen McCauley's delicious new novel follows its characters, light on their feet as they search for their best selves. The author's rare ability is finding the humor lining sadness to create a complex story with emotional depth." Carol Anshaw, author of the New York Times bestseller of Carry the One

From the Author

"A few years ago, I was having lunch with a friend. Our talk turned to finances. He told me he had to assume that, at some point, he would be supporting his sister when she retired. I knew his sister to be a delightful person, but someone who had never listened to her brother's input about her assorted risky business ventures and investments. It got me thinking about one's responsibility to friends and family, especially when they've rejected your advice. Tom, the main character in the book, wrestles with the question of whether or not he can, after a lifetime of supporting his sister, stop answering her calls for assistance.

"The bulk of the novel was written under the shadow of the pandemic (which is never mentioned) and a lot of noisy political conflict. I found myself wanting to write, optimistically, about characters who operate from a starting point of basic civility and decency. Tom believes that "given global politics, imminent environmental collapse, and the state of his own personal life, optimism, like choosing to make a movie in black and white, was a charming anachronism best saved for special occasions." I guess I thought of writing the novel as a special occasion."

January 2024
Henry Holt & Co.

Formats

Hardcover, Digital, Audio

From the Author

"A few years ago, I was having lunch with a friend. Our talk turned to finances. He told me he had to assume that, at some point, he would be supporting his sister when she retired. I knew his sister to be a delightful person, but someone who had never listened to her brother's input about her assorted risky business ventures and investments. It got me thinking about one's responsibility to friends and family, especially when they've rejected your advice. Tom, the main character in the book, wrestles with the question of whether or not he can, after a lifetime of supporting his sister, stop answering her calls for assistance.

"The bulk of the novel was written under the shadow of the pandemic (which is never mentioned) and a lot of noisy political conflict. I found myself wanting to write, optimistically, about characters who operate from a starting point of basic civility and decency. Tom believes that "given global politics, imminent environmental collapse, and the state of his own personal life, optimism, like choosing to make a movie in black and white, was a charming anachronism best saved for special occasions." I guess I thought of writing the novel as a special occasion."