The book of george

by Kate Greathead

Paperback

Published January 1, 2026

About the author

Kate Greathead is the author of the novel Laura & Emma. A graduate of Wesleyan University and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair, and Moth Radio Hour. She was a subject in the American version of the British Up documentary series, and she lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the writer Teddy Wayne.

Reviews

[Jeanne LEGRAND]

I have no idea what to think of this book.

At first it was funny and i was agreeing with how George viewed the world. But then it was just this never ending story of him living on someone else’s expenses.
Grew older but stayed a man child. Rude and completely self centered.

I get he was depressed. But Carrie actually made a point when she called him out on his bullshit. And I related to him more in that moment. Because he was always just so scared of screwing up he did nothing to help himself, fearing he would be just average.

I think a lot of people have this fear of not getting to their full potential and because they’re scared of not doing something exceptional, they’re not doing it at all. George is one of them. Just wasted potential with his books and essays he never published because he was too scared to get criticism.

The end is disappointing because George has done nothing of his life at 38 years old. And it sums up his character perfectly. We like him but we are disappointed. Which is what I felt reading this book.

[Michelle]

This George was in particular very unbearable