Anna Konkle Uses Humor to Cope. Her Favorite Books Do the Same
The 'PEN15' star shares which "traumedies" inspired her debut memoir, 'The Sane One.'
When you're looking to get lost in a book, sometimes you need your reading material to match your mood. With Marie Claire's series "Buy the Book," we do the heavy lifting for you. We're offering curated, highly specific recommendations for whatever you're looking for—whether you're in your feels or hooked on a subgenre trending on #BookTok.
In this author-curated rendition, Anna Konkle—the writer and actress best known for co-creating and starring in the beloved Hulu series Pen15—shares her favorite "traumedy" books.
When Anna Konkle set out to make PEN15 with her best friend and collaborator, Maya Erskine, she didn’t envision it would be dubbed a “cringe-comedy.” Instead, she thought of the coming-of-age Hulu series as a “traumedy”—a trauma-comedy that uses levity to explore tragedy, or, in this case, the universal woes of middle school.
Long before the 39-year-old even realized she was interested in writing comedy, Konkle saw humor as a powerful coping mechanism. She tells Marie Claire that she grew up in a household that revered “funny, smart people;” it instilled in her the idea that “life was easier if you found the joke first—better than being the joke.”
It’s how she moved through mining her preteen memories for her hit series, and how she moves through her debut book, The Sane One. The memoir, out May 5, is about her complicated relationship with her father, whom she became estranged from following her parents’ divorce, and later reconnected with.
The book is equal parts hysterical and moving—a balance that Konkle says feels intuitive to her because it reflects how she views reality. “To me, life is a series of minutiae-goals for survival, seemingly mundane tasks sitting to the left of a dramatic phone call or car accident or birth—the wonderfully dumb thing beside the tidal wave,” she says. “Like, watching Love Island—with the big tits and dramatic fights—while lying in a pull-out chair in hospice next to Dad, the nurse asking if he’s hot, and my dad answering, ‘I’d like to think so,’ but barely moving.”
So it’s fitting that Konkle’s favorite books take a similar approach. Here, she shares the traumedies she loves for being both “heroic” and “[giving] us company,” ranging from recent literary fiction hits to bestselling memoirs to children’s books.
"Romance, escapism, and truth-telling— plus it’s a novel? I sobbed, I laughed, I stopped speaking to my partner in Hawaii because I couldn’t put it down. Yes, there are sexual escapades (with a wonderfully soapy curb), but what lingers is the depth of the protagonist’s longing and July’s commitment to honoring and excavating it."
"Examines his coming of age years with a complicated, often absent father. Flynn grew up in my hometown of Scituate, MA, which makes it feel even more intimate."
"Brilliantly dark, funny, and poetic. The novel details depression during a summer internship in N.Y.C. In light of Plath’s death, the semi-autobiographical novel could read mostly morose, but I sense that she’d want us to feel seen through her writing, and to laugh."
"I happened to be waiting tables for Gabrielle Hamilton, chef and owner of Prune restaurant in N.Y.C., when this came out. I devoured her book but could barely keep eye contact after, out of admiration (which was a problem—she was my boss). Her ability to write about food like confession and confession with frankness is so rare. Her cookbook Prune and follow-up memoir Next of Kin are must-reads."
"I stand by calling this a traumedy. Creepy but clever and often funny. A girl who wants a better life finds a warped version of it…both a warning and a fantasy for kids in dysfunctional homes (and for adults looking back)."
"WASP dysfunction might be one of my guilty pleasures. I love the dialogue and the desperation of a fraying intellectual family in the Midwest trying to appear well-adjusted. A pocket of white American self-delusion."
"A 1997 photo book documenting youth culture in Los Angeles, often centered on girls. A visual coming of age and inspiration for PEN15."
"Written in 2006, it was ahead of its time. Through Bechdel’s candor, she examines a complex father-daughter relationship through her graphic novel, making it feel singular."
"Made into a good movie, but to me the book was a revelation! Partially raised by his mother’s psychiatrist, Burroughs retells his childhood in a way that feels like adult Roald Dahl meets Sedaris. He has the ability to make a distressing memory somewhere you want to stay."
"My first childhood traumedy. The emotional arc of wanting more pasta endlessly until your greed ruins everything (including your community and Strega Nona’s trust) is never not relevant. And funny."
"Irby is unapologetically forth coming with what and how she shares. She mines humor from depression, illness and relationships."
"Tracks mundane absurdism of everyday life while a taking us through a dream world, dissecting abuse, trauma, and a protagonist’s fall into a different life. My all-time favorite novel (Kafka On the Shore is another top)."
