ANNABELLE GURWITCH launches her new collection of essays WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE THEY ARE, with JONATHAN GOLD

Wherever You Go, There They Are (Blue Rider Press)

There’s an old adage: You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family. But is that true in the world we live in now? New York Times bestselling author Annabelle Gurwitch, asks this question in her latest collection of essays, Wherever You Go, There They Are, where she writes about her own family of bootleggers, gamblers, and philanderers, as well as the sisterhoods, temporary tribes, communities, and cults who have become surrogates along the way.

“When I stepped into the role of care giving for my aging parents, it was the last thing I ever expected,” explains Gurwitch. “These stories are about the family I tried to run away from and the ones I’ve joined accidentally and on purpose. Writing about family gave me a chance to look at: Who is our tribe? Is it our blood relations? Our friends? Our pets? The people we work with or pray with? What I’ve learned is that no matter how hard you try to get away from your crazy family, you end up in another family just as crazy as the one you tried to leave.”

Gurwitch explores family mythology, her immigrant southern Jewish clan and an inheritance on an ill-fated sliver of sand disappearing due to climate change known as Massacre Island; theater folk, secular humanists, Furries, a UFO cult, how corporations use sisterhood as a recruiting tool, the ladies who brunch at Tel Aviv Gardens Retirement Home in Miami, Florida, and finds common ground with her Syrian Uber driver’s kin.

A timely paean to tribes over tribalism, Wherever You Go, There They Are is inspired by historian Yuval Harari’s Sapiens, Sebastian Junger’s Tribe, Star Trek and her secret desire to be the long lost daughter of Joni Mitchell.

Annabelle Gurwitch delivers a provocative treatise on the importance and insanity of family. This is a must-read for anyone who's ever been even occasionally frustrated by the people they share carbohydrate-laden meals with every year.

Praise for Wherever You Go, There They Are 

Annabelle Gurwitch claims to be related to her nutty family, but I suspect she’s really the secret love child of Nora Ephron and Groucho Marx. She’s an old-fashioned wit for the post-modern age, a curmudgeon with a deep well of empathy and a genuinely good soul. I’m so glad she’s back with another book."— Meghan Daum, New York Times Bestselling author of The Unspeakable

“Annabelle Gurwitch tackles every life passage, with a courageous wit that makes even the darkest moments more bearable. Wherever You Go, There They Are hilariously explores the frustrations, catastrophes, and unforgettable thrills of navigating life with that gaggle of lunatics known as family.”— Heather Havrilesky, Ask Polly advice columnist and author of How to Be a Person in the World

Annabelle Gurwitch is an actress and author of The New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist I See You Made an Effort. Gurwitch gained a loyal following during her years co-hosting Dinner & a Movie on TBS. Her essays and satire have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, and The Los Angeles Times as well as numerous years as a commentator on NPR. Gurwitch hosted programs on HBO, and The Planet Green Network, acting credits include Seinfeld, Boston Legal, Dexter, Daddy Day Care and Melvin Goes to Dinner. She is a prominent figure in the atheist and Jewish communities. Gurwitch’s live appearances include The New York Comedy Festival, The Moth, 92nd St Y and arts centers around the country.

Jonathan Gold is a Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic who currently writes for the Los Angeles Times and has previously written for LA Weekly and Gourmet. He is also a regular on KCRW's Good Food radio program.