NPR's Book of the Day 'Clutch' follows a college friend group trying to maintain their bond in midlife
Feb 23, 2026
Emily Nemens, novelist and editor, wrote Clutch about five college friends facing midlife strains. She explains using a group chat as the novel’s connective tissue. The conversation touches on negligence within long-term friendships, direct scenes about reproductive rights, and how writing the book reshaped her own relationships.
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Group Chat As Structural Thread
- Emily Nemens uses the group chat as the novel's connective tissue and temporal signpost.
- Text messages function as the "vernacular of now" and help track five interleaving storylines across minutes, days, and years.
Tiny Negligence That Snowballs
- Nemens highlights how midlife produces gaps in friendship through busy lives and changing roles.
- She calls those lapses "tiny but snowballing negligence," showing how missed moments accumulate yet friendships can be repaired by acknowledging gaps.
Author's Confession About Dropping The Ball
- Emily Nemens admits she has dropped the ball as friends become parents and life complicates.
- She describes realizing after long silences that a friend had "the hardest month" and needing to apologize and try again to be present.
