THE MUTUAL FRIEND

From the co-creator of How I Met Your Mother, a hilarious and thought-provoking debut novel following a sprawling cast of New Yorkers as they navigate life, love, loss, ambition, and spirituality — without ever looking up from their phones.

It’s the summer of 2015, and Alice Quick needs to get to work. She’s twenty-eight years old, barely scraping by as a nanny, and a long way from her dream of becoming a doctor. If she can get her act together and sign up for the MCAT, she can get her life back on track . . . but in the Age of Distraction, the distractions are just so distracting. There’s her tech millionaire brother’s religious awakening. His picture-perfect wife’s emotional breakdown. Her chaotic new roommate’s thirst for adventure. And, of course, there’s the biggest distraction of all: love.

From within the story of one summer in one young woman’s life, an epic tale is unearthed, spanning continents, and featuring a tapestry of characters tied to one another by threads both seen and unseen. Filled with all the warmth, humor, and heart that gained How I Met Your Mother its cult following, The Mutual Friend captures in sparkling detail the chaos of contemporary life, a life lived simultaneously in two different worlds—the physical one and the one behind our screens—and reveals how connected we all truly are.

UK COVER

PRAISE

"This is a rare thing: an original, intelligent novel that’s not just a perfect summer beach read, but one that deserves serious awards consideration as well. Put down your phone and pick it up… A major accomplishment.”
—Kirkus (starred review)

“The Mutual Friend is the most extraordinary and beguiling novel I’ve read in years. Carter Bays weaves together a huge, eclectic cast of messy, imperfect, and bewitching characters . . . As soon as I put the book down, I wanted to start reading it all over again.”
—Clare Pooley, New York Times bestselling author of The Authenticity Project

"The Mutual Friend is a big, heart-squeezing ode to all that matters most, dressed up in the disguise of a fun, juicy ensemble story bubbling over with comically bad dates, career missteps, and awkward adult friendships. You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll stare out the window and contemplate the meaning of life. I did, anyway."
—Mary Laura Philpott, author of I Miss You When I Blink and Bomb Shelter

"The Mutual Friend is GREAT. Carter Bays is one of the funniest people I know. More importantly though, he always finds the heart and truth in all of his humor. I just loved it. Put down the phones. Unless you’re reading The Mutual Friend on it."
—Jason Segel

"A hugely clever and thoroughly entertaining magic trick of a novel that shows the ways in which we’re all connected, both virtually and in real life. This book—with all its wisdom and humor, its detours and surprises—was a total delight. I loved it!"
—Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Unsinkable Greta James

"I love this love story! The dialogue is so good, also it's very funny. What more could I want?"
—Mindy Kaling

“An ecstatic debut. . . . A modern epic brimming with charm; it romps between multiple concurrent storylines, but everything coalesces masterfully as all the scattered puzzle pieces fit together.”
—BuzzFeed

"An imaginatively tender and uncannily exact tale of life on the internet. . . . The Mutual Friend is vast in scope, startling in its precise capture of the reality of intertwined digital lives, and satisfies its ambition with an unexpected humanity and vulnerability.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“Funny, sad, and deeply wise, this one-of-a-kind book will renew your faith in humanity—and make you really want to put down your phone.”
–Real Simple

“I know it sounds like a bad joke or weird curse to wonder what would happen if Charles Dickens or Bonfire of the Vanities-era Tom Wolfe had Twitter, but the actual, happy result would be The Mutual Friend—a novel of New York in a strange time that probes its large and foibled cast with humor, real insight, and sparkling charm.”
—John Hodgman, author of Vacationland and Medallion Status and host of the Judge John Hodgman podcast

“Through his tapestry of characters, Carter Bays beautifully and hilariously captures the connection and isolation at the heart of being a human being, now. This book is like a modern-day War and Peace, without all the boring war parts.”
—Raphael Bob-Waksberg, author of Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory

“The Mutual Friend is like a 10-course dinner party with your frankest, wittiest friends confiding all their secrets. It has plenty of full-on belly laughs, but also such granular emotional insight and sharp-eyed observations about modern life and love. This novel makes you feel wonderfully seen, at your best and at your worst, by somebody very kind and very, very funny, who points out all the foibles and fractures you thought nobody noticed and let’s you know you’re not alone.”
—Elan Mastai, author of All Our Wrong Todays

“Poignant, heartbreaking, and full of hope. This beautifully written book perfectly captures the connections and relationships that shape our lives. I couldn't put it down.”
—Kate Spencer, author of In a New York Minute

“A completely unique and addictive read with a captivating cast of characters, The Mutual Friend is a memorable, clever novel about connection and love and all the things that make us human. Charming and unforgettable, this story left an impression on my heart.”
—Holly Miller, author of The Sight of You

The novel is intellectual but with a beating heart, optimistic but never naive. Like “How I Met Your Mother,” the magic of “The Mutual Friend” comes in watching the master plotter weave all the many storylines together at the end. The story crescendos with characters making surprise appearances in one another's lives, and storylines slotting together. Briefly, the world makes sense.

—Today.com