Grand, Sara Schaefer
Grand, Sara Schaefer
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Grand
A Memoir

Author: Sara Schaefer

Narrator: Sara Schaefer

Unabridged: 5 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/11/2020


Synopsis

Emmy Award–winning writer Sara Schaefer’s hilariously honest memoir follows her “on this wild river descent into the Grand Canyon and her own secret family history. This is a Class 1000 Rapids of a memoir and I urge you to take the ride” (John Hodgman, author of Vacationland). Perfect for fans of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.

When Sara Schaefer is in first grade, her father warns her to always tell the truth because one lie leads to another and soon you will find yourself in a hole you can’t escape. A few years later, the Schaefer family is completely upended when it’s revealed that their grand life is based on a lie. Her parents become pariahs in their upper middle class community and go from non-religious people to devout church members. The idea of good and evil as binary, opposed forces is a lesson she never forgets.

The year she turns forty, Sara decides to take each member of her family on a one-on-one vacation culminating with a whitewater rafting journey through the Grand Canyon with her sister. The only problem is she’s terrified of rafting. Along the way, she grapples with unresolved grief over the death of her mother and the family scandal that changed the trajectory of her life.

“Funny, sweet, heartbreaking, vulnerable, and powerfully written” (Moshe Kasher, author of Kasher in the Rye), Grand is “a wise, funny acknowledgment that we are not always in control—and that growth is most likely to happen when we let go” (BookPage).

About Sara Schaefer

Sara Schaefer is an Emmy Award-winning writer-producer and stand-up comedian. She cohosted MTV’s late-night show Nikki & Sara Live and has appeared on Comedy Central Stand-Up PresentsJohn Oliver’s New York Stand-up Show, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She has written for numerous TV shows, including The Fake News with Ted NelmsProblematic with Moshe Kasher, and The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She lives in Los Angeles.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Richard

Sara Schaefer looks anxious. If you've ever seen stand-up comedian and writer Sara Schaefer, it's hard to deny that she carries the aura of someone who has lived a little, laughed a little, loved a little, and worries about it all. Schaefer is also funny - really, really funny. "Grand: A Memoir," sc......more

Goodreads review by Marian

I liked this book. When comedian Sara Schaefer turns 40, she plans a one-on-one trip with each member of her family. Grand details her trip with younger sister Ross as they embark on an adventurous trek navigating the Grand Canyon's rapids. Schaefer skillfully takes the reader through her anxiety-fil......more

I was given an ARC (my first!) of this book in exchange for an honest review! "Grand" by Sara Schaefer (a stand up comic, and TV writer and blogger) takes the reader on an honest, sad, uplifting and funny trip down the Grand Canyon and throughout her life. Schaefer and her sister decide to reconnect......more

As someone who loves an adrenaline-pumping adventure, I enjoyed reading Sara's experience traveling down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Many of her character descriptions and boating scenes cracked me up. She's extremely talented at writing humor. I also appreciated her ability to tran......more