No One Gets to Fall Apart

“Urgent and imaginative… No One Gets to Fall Apart makes for an engrossing read, its hectic scenes held together by a psychically unmoored narrator whose wit and honesty make us trust her anyway.”

— New York Times Book Review
“Extraordinary… LaBrie brings a piercing astuteness and sensitive voice to the dilemma raised by the writer’s desire to tell a story.”

— Los Angeles Times
"LaBrie’s intimate and vivid chronicle is haunting in its sorrow and beautiful in its daring and hope.”

- BOOKLIST
"[An] unforgettable memoir… Deeply intelligent and unashamedly real.”

- OPRAH DAILY
"[A] spellbinding debut.... With unflinching honesty (‘I am so terribly sick of cannibalizing my life for art’) and lyrical prose, LaBrie elegantly captures the grunt work of self-acceptance.”

- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“A memoir that faces failure head-on....[LaBrie] does a remarkable job presenting the ways in which our health care system has failed the women in her family...A bracing look at a writer’s troubled past.”

- KIRKUS
"This memoir was an eye-opening account of mental illness and family dynamics. LaBrie allows readers into deeply personal moments while shedding light on more widespread themes that stem from her family’s past as well as LaBrie’s own creative drive."

- DEBUTIFUL, "10 noteworthy debut books"
'This is a brilliant memoir about what we inherit and what we create; what disappears and what remains. Full of intelligence and rueful humor, No One Gets to Fall Apart is a triumph of every kind of literary perseverance.'

- Lorrie Moore, author of I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home
"A sensitive and courageous debut by a talented writer seeking a deeper understanding of herself and her past."

- Nicole Chung, for Esquire
"Once I opened this brilliant memoir, I needed to finish it. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about Sarah LaBrie's story, turning over in my mind her most devastating observations about motherhood, madness, and creativity. This book is stunning, one of the best memoirs I've read in a decade. No One Gets to Fall Apart deserves a place alongside modern classics like Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle and Tara Westover's Educated."

- Susannah Cahalan, New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire and The Great Pretender
“Across this haunting, harrowing and at times rollicking account, [Sarah LaBrie] is forced in turn to frame a part, a role, a life amidst chaos. And she does so with a grace and a thoughtfulness worthy of her hero Walter Benjamin.”

- Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder
“LaBrie's spellbinding prose is a metaphysical experience: cinematic, poetic, philosophical, and wholly stunning. If psychiatric disability has impacted your life, or if you've ever been lonely, or if you enjoy having exceptional writing light up your brain, this book is an essential gift. It's that rare gem that somehow holds dazzling intertextual craft and prodigiously tender honesty in equal turn, to sublime effect. This memoir will never leave me.”

- Alissa Nutting, author of Made for Love and Tampa
“Introspective and vulnerable… The willingness to nakedly share this healing and her struggles are exactly what make the book so alluring, and [LaBrie’s] utter honesty is the strongest part of her work.”

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Buy Now

Events

August 15

Writers’ League of Texas

Virtual Third Thursday: “The Big Debut: Pre-Publication”

7-8:30 CDT on Zoom

RSVP

October 17

NYU MFA Fall Alumni Reading

New York, New York

7:00 PM EST

October 23rd

Skylight Books

Los Angeles, CA

7:00 PM PST

November 2

LITLIT

Glendale, CA

2:30 PM

Sunny’s Book Shop

Los Angeles, CA

7:00 PM

October 30

Porter Square Books

Cambridge, MA

7:00 PM

October 26-27

Southern Festival of Books

Nashville, TN

November 12

Silver Lake Reading Club

Los Angeles, CA

November 22

Empty Trash

Los Angeles, CA

7:00 PM

November 17 + November 19th

Basket Books and Arts

November 17th, 3:00 CDT - Workshop

November 19th, 6:30 CDT - Reading

Houston, TX

March 15, 2025

Tucson Festival of Books

Tucson, AZ

November 21

Writers’ League of Texas

Virtual Third Thursday: “The Big Debut: Post-Publication”

7-8:30 CDT on Zoom

April 26, 2025

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Los Angeles, CA

“Urgent and imaginative… No One Gets to Fall Apart makes for an engrossing read, its hectic scenes held together by a psychically unmoored narrator whose wit and honesty make us trust her anyway.”

“Extraordinary… LaBrie brings a piercing astuteness and sensitive voice to the dilemma raised by the writer’s desire to tell a story.”

"LaBrie’s intimate and vivid chronicle is haunting in its sorrow and beautiful in its daring and hope.”

"[An] unforgettable memoir… Deeply intelligent and unashamedly real.”

"[A] spellbinding debut.... With unflinching honesty (‘I am so terribly sick of cannibalizing my life for art’) and lyrical prose, LaBrie elegantly captures the grunt work of self-acceptance.”

“A memoir that faces failure head-on....[LaBrie] does a remarkable job presenting the ways in which our health care system has failed the women in her family...A bracing look at a writer’s troubled past.”

"This memoir was an eye-opening account of mental illness and family dynamics. LaBrie allows readers into deeply personal moments while shedding light on more widespread themes that stem from her family’s past as well as LaBrie’s own creative drive."

'This is a brilliant memoir about what we inherit and what we create; what disappears and what remains. Full of intelligence and rueful humor, No One Gets to Fall Apart is a triumph of every kind of literary perseverance.'

"A sensitive and courageous debut by a talented writer seeking a deeper understanding of herself and her past."

“Across this haunting, harrowing and at times rollicking account, [Sarah LaBrie] is forced in turn to frame a part, a role, a life amidst chaos. And she does so with a grace and a thoughtfulness worthy of her hero Walter Benjamin.”

“Introspective and vulnerable… The willingness to nakedly share this healing and her struggles are exactly what make the book so alluring, and [LaBrie’s] utter honesty is the strongest part of her work.”

Events