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Alan Opts Out

By Courtney Maum
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Brief Description
'The eat-the-rich farce we need, from one of our funniest writers' Lit Hub 'Sly, propulsive and painfully hilarious family drama' Caro Claire Burke, author of Yesteryear 'Chicken-soup for the late capitalist soul' Steven Rowley, NYT bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus 'Vivid, lacerating and funny'... Read More
Format: Hardback
$6000
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Releases 15th September 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "Alan Opts Out" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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He's stopped buying the life he was selling.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
'The eat-the-rich farce we need, from one of our funniest writers' Lit Hub 'Sly, propulsive and painfully hilarious family drama' Caro Claire Burke, author of Yesteryear 'Chicken-soup for the late capitalist soul' Steven Rowley, NYT bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus 'Vivid, lacerating and funny' Carl Hiaasen, author of Fever Beach 'Witty, sharp, and tender, Alan Opts Out skewers late-stage capitalism and material ambition while keeping human hearts - a family of them - at its centre' Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans 'A smart, funny, and all-too-timely tale of Americans on the edge of collapse . . . Maum delivers wry humour without sacrificing compassion' Elizabeth Gilbert 'A brilliant, hilarious referendum on the American obsession with more' Nathan Hill, author of The Nix

After successful ad exec Alan Anderson bombs the biggest pitch of his career, he has an epiphany. His entire career has been about making people buy stuff that they don't need so they feel perpetually unsatisfied and less-than. After a lifetime of striving for capitalism, Alan is opting out.

He retires to the ridiculously extravagant playhouse in his family's suburban Connecticut garden (a classic example of something the Andersons didn't need), gives up showering, shoe-wearing, and purchases of all kinds. He might even read a book! This is all very upsetting for his wife Vivian, who is on the verge of being accepted into the insanely elite Queen's Anne Club - guaranteed to make all her insecurities disappear and her children popular.

But maybe everyone will want to buy what Alan's not selling? And, in losing his ambition, might he find what we're all looking for?

For anyone who has ever cared more about how it looked than how it felt, Alan Opts Out is a hilarious take on consumerism, capitalism, and wellness.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781399829175

Publisher: John Murray Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 04 June 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd

Illustration: N/A

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 34.0mm

Width: 158.0mm

Height: 236.0mm

Weight: 560g

Pages: 352

Collections

Courtney Maum Fiction General Fiction Humour Literary Fiction Pre-order Books Pre-order General Fiction Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date

About the Author

Courtney Maum is the author of five books, including the groundbreaking publishing guide, Before and After the Book Deal and the memoir, The Year of the Horses. A writing coach and executive director of the nonprofit learning collaborative, The Cabins, Courtney's mission is to help people hold on to the joy of art-making in a culture obsessed with turning artists into brands. With her filmmaker husband, she has co-written films that have debuted at Sundance and won awards at Cannes.

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