The Sane One: A Memoir by the Co-creator of Pen15

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In a coming-of-age memoir that’s “equal parts hysterical and moving” (Marie Claire), the co-creator of Hulu’s brilliant Pen15 grapples with the reappearance of her estranged father—and whether it’s possible to reconnect before it’s too late.

“Anna Konkle is generous enough to bring her comic sensibilities to a story that could have well have been a tragedy. She speaks for all the ‘sane ones’ out there who never agreed to play that part.”—Amy Sedaris

Throughout Anna Konkle’s childhood, her father was her hero—a hyper-charismatic, larger-than-life human resource manager at 7-Eleven. But their closeness was constantly interrupted by the screaming matches and heavy silences between him and her mother, eventually culminating in a bitter divorce that literally split the family house down the middle, with one parent on each side.

College felt like freedom, and Anna filled her time searching for the husband she’d never divorce and the orgasm she’d never had, while waiting tables at fancy restaurants and getting lackluster acting gigs, the strangest of which had her working celebrity Halloween parties. But just as she begins to thrive, her father starts to struggle. Not long after she moves to LA to pursue acting and writing, her dad’s increasingly erratic behavior forces her to cut off contact with him, until, years later, he knocks at her door.

Written in intimately beautiful prose, The Sane One is a tragicomic memoir of growing up, falling apart, getting older, and trying to come back together while there’s still time.

About the Author :
Anna Konkle is the co-creator and co-star of the critically acclaimed Hulu series Pen15. The series won the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series and was nominated for four primetime Emmys, three WGA Awards, and three Critics Choice Awards. Time recognized Pen15 as one of 12 Exciting New TV Shows created by women. Konkle has been named one of Variety’s 10 Comics To Watch, as well as one of Hollywood's 50 Most Powerful TV Showrunners by the Hollywood Reporter. Originally from the East Coast, Konkle is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Review :
“Konkle is generous enough to bring her comic sensibilities to a story that could have well have been a tragedy. She speaks for all the ‘sane ones’ out there who never agreed to play that part. It’s insane how much I enjoyed it. Brava, Anna Konkle!”—Amy Sedaris

“Essential reading.”—TheSkimm

“Pen15 fans, rise up! . . . The Sane One continues the same candid and heartfelt tone that Pen15 fans might recognize from the show. This time, Konkle applies that approach to recollections from her childhood, including remembrances of her parents’ divorce, and her journey to becoming a working actress.”—Harper’s Bazaar

“Anna Konkle perfectly captures the awkwardness and drilled-down truth of emerging from the tumult of a stressful childhood to see and embrace your family just as they are. It’s frank and funny and questioning and generous and heartbreaking all at once, without ever compromising her own nuanced truth.”—Gabrielle Hamilton, author of Next of Kin

“I loved this hilarious and harrowing memoir by the brilliant Anna Konkle. Konkle’s writing superpower—familiar to all of us who loved Pen15—is her uncanny ability to vividly channel the inner lives of children with unflinching honesty and humor. Her book is an utterly transporting coming-of-age story that will remind you how each age actually, truly felt, in all its horror, messiness, and beauty.”—Simon Rich, author of Ant Farm

“Anna Konkle brings her extraordinary gift for conveying childhood's agonies and ecstasies to this poignant family memoir—at once a powerful portrait of the brilliant millennial artist and a nuanced account of reckoning with, and eventually making peace with, flawed parents.”—Ada Calhoun, the New York Times-bestselling author of Also a Poet

“Anna Konkle has an uncanny ability to channel the past and those who inhabit it, maybe from her brilliant work in television, or maybe from growing up in a small town from which few escape unscathed. Funny and heartbreaking, her story is not a rewriting of the past but a hard-earned acceptance of it.”—Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City

“Along with Maya Erskine, we have Konkle to thank for Pen15—the best television show in recent history/apex nostalgia object for elder millennials. If [Anna's] rollicking and vulnerable screenwriting voice is anything to go by, this true tale of tricky wonder years should be a hilarious shot to the heart.”—Literary Hub

“Elegant prose, laugh-out-loud dialogue, and a tender heart make this a delight even for readers unfamiliar with Konkle’s TV work.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Konkle offers a rare picture of just-in-time forgiveness. A moving companion to a binge-watch of PEN15, as well as an inspiration for healing.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Konkle turns the unique aspects of her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood into the universal, using humor to convey existential questions about what ‘normal’ really means and how we can find—or create—it. . . . A powerful piece.”—Booklist

“The Sane One is as much about surviving the unbearable awkwardness of adolescence as it is about finally seeing your parents for who they are—and recognizing that loving them doesn’t mean being their savior.”—BookPage