Christina Patterson Press Reviews
[Christina's] moving and funny book, The Art of Not Falling Apart describes with searing honesty what it's like for a single woman in middle age to lose the one thing that was holding life together - her job. - New Statesman's best books of the year 2018
The whole book was such a gripping read... The honesty is refreshing. It is also beautifully written... Everyone who works in healthcare would benefit from reading this book. - Peter Carter, Nursing Times
In this incredibly inspirational book, she reflects on the lessons she has learned since being made redundant, and highlights ways to deal with personal challenges, that range from domestic abuse and having a severely disabled child, to being publicly sacked at your employer's AGM. This is not a typical 'how to' guide that promises all the answers - readers may find some along the way, but they may also simply enjoy it as a witty and beautifully written memoir. - Verena Vogt, Irish News
Funny and uplifiting. - Mail on Sunday, 100 Sizzling Summer Reads
Christina Patterson is a passionate, funny woman who refuses simply to struggle on. She believes in living. And throwing parties. And friendship. And sex. And buying a flat in a Tuscan watchtower from the internet on a whim. And also the power of anger. Like all good journalists, Patterson leaves her best story until last... the final chapter is a revelation. - Jackie Annesley, Sunday Times
[Patterson] puts her marvellous empathetic talent to good use, interviewing other people whose worlds had collapsed. The Art of Not Falling Apart is the result, a surprisingly joyful book by a writer so good that the people who sacked her were clearly morons. - Allison Pearson, Sunday Telegraph
Patterson invests her case histories with such intelligent passion and cracking candour that you feel as if you are listening to your cleverest, funniest, and, above all, kindest friend. This is a manual on how to survive in the 21st century. - Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday
How does a person not fall apart when everything that matters to them is taken away? That's the question Patterson poses in this wise, funny book. Part memoir, part psychological enquiry, she uses herself and her wide circle of friends as laboratory specimens to work out what stops people going under... Patterson invests her case histories with such intelligent passion and cracking candour that you feel as if you are listening to your cleverest, funniest and, above all, kindest friend. This is a manual on how to survive in the 21st century. Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday I thoroughly enjoyed it - a kind of war reporter's dispatches from the barricades of modern life. Robert Harris A beautifully written and uplifting memoir about love and loss - and finding the resolve to carry on. Matthew Syed, The Times After losing her opinion column at The Independent, Patterson also mislaid her sense of self. 'I have never found a book called I Feel So Awful I Don't Know What To Do,' she says wryly. Eventually, she put her marvellous empathetic talent to good use, interviewing other people whose world had collapsed. The Art of Not Falling Apart is the result, a surprisingly joyful book by a writer so good that the people who sacked her were clearly morons. Allison Pearson, Sunday Telegraph Patterson is a passionate, funny woman who refuses simply to struggle on. She believes in living. And throwing parties. And friendship. And sex. And buying a flat in a Tuscan watchtower from the internet on a whim. And also the power of anger. 'I do believe in anger. The kind of anger that gives you the energy to fight back.' Like all good journalists, Patterson leaves her best story until last... the final chapter is a revelation. Jackie Annesley, Sunday Times If you're 50 and feeling a failure, you must read The Art of Not Falling Apart, by Christina Patterson. Liz Jones, Mail on Sunday A very different kind of self-help book: witty, wise and wonderfully relatable. Sarah Hughes, the i In this incredibly inspirational book, she reflects on the lessons she has learned since being made redundant, and highlights ways to deal with personal challenges, that range from domestic abuse and having a severely disabled child, to being publicly sacked at your employer's AGM. This is not a typical 'how to' guide that promises all the answers - readers may find some along the way, but they may also simply enjoy it as a witty and beautifully written memoir. Verena Vogt, Irish News The Art of Not Falling Apart shames the sleek, smug lessons of the Lean In brigade by celebrating ...the varied circumstances, uncertain fortunes and individual abilities that shape human effort. Terri Apter, Times Literary Supplement The Art of Not Falling Apart... is moving, poignant and extremely funny, it's filled with wisdom and it's enormously uplifting. I'm going to keep it on my bedside table forever, in case of emergency, and buy a box of copies so that I can distribute them to the people I love when they need a boost. Daisy Buchanan, author of How to Be a Grown Up, The Pool 'What do you do when you feel you've messed it all up and your friends seem to be doing just fine? Ditch the self-help books and keep buggering on' sums up journalist and broadcaster Christina Patterson's attitude in this brilliant, poignant and also very funny memoir about picking yourself up and starting afresh. Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller (non-fiction editor's choice, May) The whole book was such a gripping read... The honesty is refreshing. It is also beautifully written... Everyone who works in healthcare would benefit from reading this book. Peter Carter, Nursing Times funny and uplifting , 100 Sizzling Summer Reads, Mail on Sunday Brave, honest and readable, Wendy Cope, The Week A page turner! Insightful, sad, funny and so well written. Kirsty Wark A wonderful, gutsy writer. Clive James I knew of Christina Patterson as a skilfully probing journalist on The Independent who was great fun to be interviewed by and who shared my love of Larkin. She also wrote the most insightful piece I've ever read about my old boss, Gordon Brown. Her moving and funny book, The Art of Not Falling Apart describes with searing honesty what it's like for a single woman in middle age to lose the one thing that was holding her life together - her job. Alan Johnson, former Home Secretary, New Statesman Books of the Year A tender, beautiful exploration of how we survive pressure, from a tender, beautiful writer. -- Johann Hari - author of Lost Connections and Chasing The Scream (both NYT bestsellers)
Poignant and very funny -- Sunday Express Tender and funny. - Sunday Post
I thoroughly enjoyed it - a kind of war reporter's dispatches from the barricades of modern life. - Robert Harris
A page turner! Insightful, sad, funny and so well written. - Kirsty Wark
Brilliant, poignant and also very funny. - Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller
A tender, beautiful exploration of how we survive pressure, from a tender, beautiful writer. - Johann Hari, author of Lost Connections and Chasing The Scream (a NYT bestseller)
A wonderful, gutsy writer. - Clive James
A clear and important voice in British journalism. - Carol Ann Duffy
One of the best columnists around. - Andrew Motion
