Frog: And Other Essays

by Anne Fadiman, Sam Anderson (Foreword)

A new collection of sprightly personal essays from one of America’s most beloved nonfiction writers, Anne Fadiman.

In Frog, Anne Fadiman returns to one of her favorite genres, the essay, of which she is one of our most celebrated practitioners. Ranging in subject matter from her deceased frog, to archaic printer technology, to the fraught relationship between Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his son Hartley, these essays evoke an enormous world, one rife with brilliance and art, mundanity and oddity.

The diverse subjects of Frog cling together through the quality of Fadiman’s attention, and subtly, they come to form a slantwise portrait of the artist, a writer dedicated to chronicling the world as it changes—in ways small and large—around her as time passes each day.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Short Stories, American

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2026

About the author

Anne Fadiman is the author, most recently, of the essay collection Frog (2026). Her first book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (1997), won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Salon Book Award. In 2017, she published The Wine Lover’s Daughter, a memoir about her father. Fadiman has also written two essay collections, Ex Libris and At Large and At Small, and edited Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love. She is Professor in the Practice of English and Francis Writer in Residence at Yale.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Fadiman just might be my favorite living essayist (I gift “Ex Libris” to pretty much every bookish person I know). There’s something jewel-like about her writing; the longer you look at it and the more closely you examine it, the more evident the precision and sheer craftsmanship that go into every line and line break become. And her humor! I’m convinced even her grocery lists must be funny. Every essay in this newest collection is stellar, but my particular favorites were “The Oakling and the Oak” and “South Polar Times.”

Many thanks to FSG for the advanced copy. I can’t wait to push this book on everyone I know when it comes out next February!

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great essayist Anne Fadiman has a new collection out, and it was even more of a joy than I was expecting. From pets to printers to coming to terms with the singular pronoun "them" as a prescriptive grammarian (as someone who also loves to diagram sentences, I see her), it is a joy to read Fadiman think and analyze and open herself up to a changing world. A gift of a book.

[Sam Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read so many essays for school that I, maybe subconsciously, don’t venture into this form of writing in my non-school books. Fadiman’s newest collection, Frog, reminds me that it is to my detriment that my reading is imbalanced. I believe three main elements coalesce together, making it a pleasant read.

(1) The author’s thoughts and thoroughly researched topics are carefully conveyed with a wise, even, and accurate voice that also portrays humility. For example, her biography of the poet Hartley Coleridge (d. 1849) in The Oakling and the Oak seeks to correct an inaccurate depiction of the writer. (2) The author loves grammar and writes about teaching it. With sophisticated ease in All My Pronouns, Fadiman maneuvers between the dangling participle splitter and the gender neutral singular they. She marks language’s evolution, and how she has had to change with it, including a historical shift within Harvard Div. In the end, if they isn’t used universally for all people, then she suggests making gender less culturally central. This was my second favorite essay. (3) My favorite was Screen Share. In it, the author demonstrates her respect for her students and her craft as she serves as the Francis Writer in Residence at Yale.

Perhaps I may have enjoyed this book even more if Fadiman tied the essays together with similar themes. Perhaps the work comes together just fine because Fadiman authors the pieces.

My thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for an ARC.

[Kathy James · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to have been introduced to this author! Do not neglect to read the introduction (which was the last chapter in the audiobook).

[Bre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was received as an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

This review will be short- I enjoyed this book, same as I have enjoyed all of Anne Fadiman’s work. I’m generally not a huge fan of essays, but hers always touch me and while Frog is probably below Ex Libris on my ranking, it’s still a great read.
I may add to this review as I sit with what I’ve read, but the rating should remain the same.

[Stuart Endick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The long wait is over for another collection of Anne Fadiman essays. They resonate and engage whether there is something in them that parallels one’s personal experience or simply provokes empathy and thought. The subjects range from the mundane and everyday to the profound. The collection begins with the title essay evoking feelings of regret over a pet frog confined to a too small tank and ends with a meditation on a remarkable young writer and former student whose life was cut short. Other subjects deal with the challenges of adopting to new technology, the evolution of grammar in a changing society, the tragic life of Hartley Coleridge, the literary proclivities of Edwardian Antarctic explorers, and the author’s shared experiences with her students adapting to the pandemic and life on Zoom. The essays are infused with the personal perspective and experience of the author but deal with shared and universal matters. Each is a gem.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of seven essays by Anne Fadiman. They are about;

A frog her family kept as a pet for sixteen years and his death
Hartley Coleridge, the son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Computer printers she has owned
Her thoughts on using "they" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun.
The challenge of teaching a Yale University nonfiction writing class on Zoom during Covid.
An eight-issue newspaper that was published by South Pole explorers in 1902.
A memoir of one of her students.

They are all fascinating. These essays are personal in the best way without being confessional or self-involved. Fadiman writes personal essays that hit the sweet spot between giving us a feel of what she is like, how she thinks and what her prejudices and believes are, while at the same time providing interesting facts and thoughtful angles on what is under consideration.

The essay on the use of the singular "they" is starkly honest about how her love for the classic rules of grammar caused her to recoil at using a plural pronoun for a singular subject. She knows that her personal views and sympathies are in favor. She does a deep dive into the history of English pronouns and eventually satisfies her intellectual qualms, although she confesses that some usages still don't feel right to her grammarian streak.

She is a brilliant writer. She works at making her sentences clear and stylish, which are often conflicting goals. Reading her is fun.
She mentions party-store noisemakers that are "the kind with lizard-like paper tongues that make flatulent bleats when you blow them on New Year's Eve."
She says, about the Zoom backgrounds of her on-line students "If I squint, the Zoom grid looks like a haphazardly curated collection of Joseph Cornell boxes."

At their core, these are serious and inciteful essays. The frog essay opens up into big issues of responsibility and change, without ever explicitly saying it. The tragedy of Hartly Coleridge, son of a famous writer, necessarily bumps up against the fact that Anne Fadiman is the daughter of a well-known intellectual, Clifton Fadiman, and her mother was a successful writer. Fadiman is clear that her parents were not the irresponsible selfish types that Samuel Taylor Coleridge was.

This is a refreshingly short book that is worth savoring.

CONSUMER WARNING Do not read the introduction by Sam Anderson before you read the book. Anderson commits the horrible introducers crime of picking out many of the best lines and passages and giving us them as part of his discussion of what a great writer Fadiman is. The result is that when you come to them in the book, you don't get the pleasure of the new, you get the memory of having already read it. It is a good introduction, and it is perfectly ok to read it as an afterwards.

[E. C. Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to meet Anne Fadiman years ago at an event in Albany just before Wine-Lover’s Daughter came out. I knew that there would be a book-signing afterwards. I came prepared with my copies of At Large and At Small and Ex Libris. I was at the head of the line. It was my turn. I walked up to her and tried to talk and nothing came out. Of all the writers I’ve gotten the chance to meet over the years, this is the only time that this has happened. And though it was true of those other writers too, I think I froze up (and almost certainly freaked her out) because there was just so much I wanted to say to her that I knew couldn’t be communicated (let alone communicated in the forty seconds it was going to take her to sign my books before security escorted me out of the building). Anne Fadiman is my favorite living non-fiction writer, and the only other non-fiction writer who I think challenges her in my own personal Mount Olympus is David Foster Wallace, and since life is a palimpsest of impossible coincidences it was actually Wallace who introduced me to Fadiman through his posthumously published DFW Reader, for which Fadiman penned a mini-essay that followed “Getting Away from Already Pretty Much Being Away from It All,” which I wouldn’t have paid any special attention to except that the DFW Reader was released on a day that I was working at the bookstore I used to work at in Warwick, NY, and was the same day that a classmate, N. West Moss, from my thesis seminar happened to visit that very bookstore and while we chatted about the impossible coincidence of running into each other at this bookstore of all places she noticed me with the DFW Reader and saw that Fadiman had written this mini-essay and mentioned how much she liked her and I went home with three books that day instead of one. Fadiman’s writing sparkles. She’s funny and smart and reminds me that literature is the most important thing. Her sentences are perfect. It’s been a long time since I enjoyed reading something as much as this.

[Miguel DJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

anne fadiman is a real genius with the word.

these essays span a vast territory -- including historical polar expeditions, people long gone, people who left very suddenly, and, well, frogs. but common to them all is the trace of her magical ability to transform the mundane into the sublime, or to humble the lofty by making its trifling details rise to our attention. incredibly funny, surprisingly touching, but most importantly, filled with her idiosyncratic phraseology that simultaneously challenges and tickles the mind.

[😼jiriguru · Rating 4 out of 5]

尤其喜欢青蛙和人称代词这两篇。前者从一只死掉的青蛙宠物开始讲起，说到了自己和子女还有动物宠物之间的关系，幽默的文笔看得我时常忍不住嘴角上扬。后者因为人称代词引出关于非二元性别的讨论，说到 boomer 一代如何与年轻人之间的疑惑、沟通和理解。

不知为何最近尤其偏爱读散文。可能是因为散文恰好介于略沉重的纪实/报告文学和需要沉心去读的小说之间。只要有碎片的时间，就可以拿起散文集读几页，完全 stress free. 这本散文集2月刚出版没多久，LA图书馆就有电子版可以借了。谢谢图书馆💖

[claire]

adored

full review soon, thanks netgalley and fsg for the digital arc

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Fadiman is just brilliant!

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love anything Anne Fadiman writes.

[Renato · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There is a direct relationship between how much trouble pets are, and how much you value them.
Thay may be one reason why parents love their children, they are vessels of deposit, in to which efforts are ceaselessly poured"

I come into this essay collection a "Fadiman"-newbie (my simple Saturday morning brain latching onto the interesting title and cover). I leave this essay collection a fan of Anne Ladiman's, as well as with future conviction to insert more essay collections into my non-fiction repetoire.

A quick summary of thoughts for each of the entries:

FROG
A reflection of a Ladiman's family's history of pets, with the story of an African clawed frog (named Bunky) at the center. This was the correct choice for the 1st slot, as she simultaeously humours and thoughtful.

THE OAKLING AND THE OAK
A brief history of famous poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his lesser esteemed son, "Poor" Hartley Coleridge. Their lives may appear to have emobdied the old adage "the oakling withers beneath the shadow of the oak", but really it becomes more apparent that it is really "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".

MY OLD PRINTER
Very fun musings on holding onto technology (whether it be because of perceived sunk costs, loyalty to inanimate objects, or just the desire to not have to learn anything new).

ALL MY PRONOUNS
A very intriguing take in the pronoun "They", firing up old battlelines between Prescriptivists and Descriptivists. I very much appreciate the holistic approach she takes here to mull over this (and eventually grow herself from the deep dive).

SCREEN SHARE
A chronicle of her teaching years during the pandemic, where master and pupil interaction was restricted by the rectangular frame of a Zoom screen.

SOUTH POLAR TIMES
I found this interesting only because I was unaware of the existence of a magazine created by the crew of the two Antarctic voyages in at the start of the 20th century. While I do not share Ladiman's fascination of the accounts of what these men while not exploring, I can see how it can be an obsession to a specifit type of mind.

YES TO EVERYTHING
This one caught me by surprise, as it was the one Ladiman work that I had already unknowingly read. Ladiman was a mentor and professor to Marina Keegan (author of The Opposite of Loneliness) and this essay supposedly introduces Keegan's book!

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn’t realized that Anne Fadiman, whose book Frog and Other Essays I had picked up to read, was also the author of one of my best-loved essay collections, Ex Libris. So it was no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed this newest collection and happily recommend it. The strengths are numerous. A wonderful playfulness with language, a stunning vocabulary, evidence of deep research, a facility with lists (so much so it’s mentioned in the foreword by Sam Anderson), an awareness of language’s musicality, a keen insight, a smoothness as she moves from the small to the large and vice-versa and back and forth between the personal and the non-personal, an eye for sharp detail, an originality in her use of metaphors and similes, a welcome sense of humor and a much-needed in this day sense of empathy, the ability to range widely and focus tightly. And more.

As with any collection, some of the six essays will strike readers more strongly than others and which those are will almost certainly differ from reader to reader. My personal favorites are the title essay about a pet frog, “”The Oakling and the Oak” about Hartley Coleridge (son of the famed poet), and “South Polar Times” about the newspaper printed on board ship on one of Scott’s Antarctic journeys.

“Frog” is a wonderfully vibrant essay. In it, Fadiman introduces us to her family’s pet frog Bunky via Bunky’s frozen corpse in their freezer. Throughout we learn the history of Bunky (dead at 16, or possibly 17), get Fadiman’s confession that “actually, we didn’t love Bunky” (as opposed to their furry, friendly, pettable dog Typo), find out that one of her biggest regrets in life was keeping poor Bunky in a too-small aquarium for all 16 of his years, and gather some insights into how we react differently to different animals. We also get a beautifully poignant moment — all the more effective for how it stands out in a piece that isn’t focused on either beauty or poignancy — when she tells us how as she wrote late at night, she could hear Bunky’s “two-syllable ribbit . . . softly calling for a mate he would never meet.”

The other two essays travel a good distance, literally and subject-wise, from “Frog,” both being heavily research based. “The Oakling and Oak” delves into the “disappointment” of Hartley Coleridge’s life, particularly as a wanna-be poet in the great looming shadow of his genius father. “Poor Hartley”, as he was often called, was also, Fadiman tells us, called “a misfit, a dreamer, a sinner, a castaway, a wayward child, a hobgoblin, a flibbertigibbet, a waif, a weird . . .” and that is only about a third of Fadiman’s wonderful list (note the consonance of the bs and g’s in hobgoblin/flibbertigibbet and the alliteration of the w’s in waif/weird). It’s a fantastic piece, and one that still allows for the personal touch as Fadiman notes her own struggles growing up wanting to be a writer while being the child of two famous writers.

Finally, “South Polar Times” was bound to be among my favorites, as like Fadiman I too am fascinated by polar expeditions. What I loved about this one, in addition to all the aforementioned many craft strengths Fadiman brings, is how it takes a different approach to the subject, via the lens of Scott’s magazine (edited by Shackleton, then a lieutenant under Scott).

The other essays as noted didn’t strike me with the same impact but remain strong pieces. One about her unwillingness to give up her ancient printer was both funny and also insightful in terms of how we cling to things and why. An essay on pronouns was more interesting to me in how it delved into the research into how pronouns have changed over time versus Fadiman’s own adaptation to current shifts, though that adaptation is humorously conveyed. The last essay, “Yes to Everything” is about one of her students, a vibrant personality and, according to Fadiman, an incredible writer, who died tragically young. Fadiman’s sorrow and joy intermixed are conveyed effectively, but it would not have been my choice for the ending of the collection.

Then again, my only real complaint overall is that it ended far too soon. Which, you know, is pretty good as far as complaints go. Highly recommended.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

If she came to my office hours and argued for a fourth star, i'd probably give it. I read it while in COVID sick bay so probably unduly grumpy. Also grading on a curve -- she's a fantastic writer (highly recommend the earlier collection of essays Ex Libris, which i've read a couple times over the years), so my expectations are high.

This particular collection I found sort of uneven. On the better side IMO were very moving final piece mainly about an outstanding student she had at Yale who died young in a car wreck, essay about being a low-tech senior faculty member trying to figure out zoom teaching in spring 2020 (relatable!), and deep dive into the story of Antarctic explorer Robert Scott publishing a periodical for his crew. Common denominators -- getting at least somewhat outside her self and her family, and original, informative observations

Much less compelling were the ones that amounted to cute family stories (titular essay re their pet frog), opinions i've heard a million times (the one on pronouns, with long argument in defense of singular "they" -- agree, but case closed a while back), or just overly fey Andy Rooney-esque minutiae (overlong one about her attachment to an old type of printer) or self-referential stuff (e.g., she says she's tired of being ID'ed as Clifton Fadiman's daughter but keeps bringing up her parents and their love of words and grammar and so forth in various contexts where the story is not essential).

Don't mean to overdo the negative. She's 10x the writer I could ever be and sounds like a great teacher as well. Just maybe heading toward the Anne Lamott zone for me (you're great, but I need a break). If I give it a decade or so before reading another essay collection by her, I should be able to get back to baseline enjoyment and avoid crossing over into the circa-1985 Lionel Richie zone (i.e., the instant I hear your voice, i'm switching the car radio station).

[Lilisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne Fadiman is an eloquent giant in contemporary nonfiction writing and once again I’m not disappointed in her latest book. In this collection of essays that range from her dead frog (!), old printer, use of pronouns, Coleridge and his son, to a brilliance snuffed out way too early, she captivated me with her rich prose with bits of humor interspersed here and there. She can take a topic like her beloved old printer and walk the reader through her unfathomable attachment of it, nursing it along well beyond its usefulness. And yet, as the reader, practical though I am, I strangely understood her actions (!). Her deceased frog was another lovely piece, although I’m a bit on the fence on holding on... And then came the final essay about Marina Keegan, the author’s student – oh, the vivacious, young, full of life Marina, who’s book The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories was published posthumously, and which I thought was amazing and is one of my all-time favorites. I could feel the restrained depth of emotion as Fadiman writes about Marina Keegan, who was in her nonfiction writing course on Writing about Oneself at Yale University. All in all, another great enjoyable and satisfying read from Anne Fadiman. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

With "Frog," Fadiman remains one of the undisputed masters of the essay. A keen observer, she writes with a true geek's passion, marveling at points both large and small. "A devotee of things- their biggest fan, you might say," her hound's interest in both the world and herself makes for a self-effacing autobiographical style in which Fadiman is, to some extent, one of the objects of every essay. The result is essays on an antediluvian laser printer, arctic explorers (always), a tragic romantic poet, and a mail order frog from a narrative voice that is, despite Byron, neither a bore nor the bored. She is at her best with topics biographical and quotidian, and less compelling when she slips into polemic.

If you are not yet a fan of common essays, there is no better place to start. You are likely to find yourself looking for a collection of Lamb or Montaigne when you are finished. You would do well to find her two earlier collections as well.

I hesitate to post this, knowing that if Fadiman sees it she won't be able to help but judge my style and grammar. I only hope that her Blackberry is too old to open Goodreads.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this essay collection by writing professor Anne Fadiman. Fadiman's writing is smart, charming, funny and accessible. I was with her every step of the way as she discussed the pet frog her family lived with for over a decade and any other topic she chose to write about. Fadiman has perfected the familiar essay, and this is a delightful book to dip in and out of, although I couldn't help but read it straight through. This is a treat to read and upon finishing it I immediately purchased her previous essay collections.

[Ula Tardigrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with Anne Fadiman’s style many years ago, when I first read her „Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader”. With this newest book she confirms her status as one of the best essayists alive. Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

[˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

totally captivating! picked this up from goodreads’ suggestions and simply because i was hooked by the title. i am again reminded that essays will always have a special place in my heart. “yes to everything” shattered me; everything else amused and entertained me. safe to say i will be reading more of fadiman :)

[Sarah Arrowsmith Warnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Fadiman effortlessly records life as it lies. Or is that “lays?” Well, Anne would know. My husband had a hard time grasping why anyone would read a bunch of random stuff thrown together, as is a book of essays. I say there is a connection here— not that you need one.

Spoiler alert: the frog dies, the writers die, the printer dies, the use of proper English dies, the people with COVID die, the explorers die, and the favored student dies. But my interest in her take on it all never did.

Fadiman held me in her delicate hands while explaining life and all that comes along for the ride. She talks about commonplace and everyday items with such an infectious gusto that I almost bought a frog for my son. But she also tackles some pretty big topics, like South Pole explorers or people who choose to change their pronouns.

How do I get into that writing class? I wish I had access to the WaO room. Until then, I’ll continue to read from its teacher.

[Allegra Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of exquisite essays by the astute and witty Anne Fadiman. This book is a delight. A pet frog. A printer. A "lesser poet." Each subject provides a jumping off point for Fadiman. If you love the essay you will love this book. If you want to write essays, you should read this book. Fadiman is a master of the form.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I picked up a collection of essays to read for fun. This was a worthwhile diversion, witty and warm. I especially liked “Frog” “The Oakling and the Oak” and “My Old Printer.” The final story “Always Say Yes” is also very strong. There’s nothing unforgettable in here, but it’s a good read with some excellent writing. I will be reading more by Fadiman.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely essays from a talented writer. The writing clear and accessible, while also being profound and engaging. Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Lissa00 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed Anne Fadiman’s writing, usually book related, and this collection of essays is no different. I did have definite favorites: “All My Pronouns”, “Screenshare” and “Yes to Everything.” I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Claudia Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book in this mini essay format, but I really enjoyed it! I sometimes forget how many different ways/styles of writing there are and how enjoyable books other than novels can be.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read Fadiman's other essay collections and enjoyed them. I didn't particularly care for the first two essays in this book, but the rest were wonderful. The thing that ties all the essays together is her curiosity about a wide variety of topics.

[Toby Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the essays were well written, some were a bit boring though.
Frog: 4/5
The Oakling and the Oak: 4/5
My Old Printer: 2/5
All My Pronouns: 3/5
Screen Share: 3/5
South Polar Times: 4/5
Yes to Everything: 5/5

[Theodore Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible as usual. love the essay about the printer