A revised edition of The Age of Grievance, a New York Times best seller, is out in paperback 5/13/25!

Order it in one of multiple formats:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop

Praise for The Age of Grievance:

A “brilliant book . . . Bruni writes with humor, insight and precision.” — Wall Street Journal “Buy Side” list of 15 essential summer reads

“This is such an important book.” — Stephanie Ruhle, MSNBC

“Absolutely tremendous.” — Rick Wilson, author of the #1 New York Times best seller Everything Trump Touches Dies

“It’s not just the most astute diagnosis of the rage, recrimination and revenge culture that ails our country. It’s also the best prescription for our redemption.” — Bret Stephens, The New York Times

“An astonishing, alarming catalogue of the grievances that we nurture. I kept wanting to skip to the section on solutions (which are smart and hopeful, don't worry) but I couldn't do it. The writing was so sharp and good that I didn't want to miss anything! Damn you, Bruni!” — Amanda Ripley, author of High Conflict 

“A fascinating book.” — Andrew Ross Sorkin, cohost, CNBC’s Squawk Box

“It’s a fabulous book. It’s very provocative. I agree with a lot of it. I disagree with a lot of it.” — Hugh Hewitt, syndicated radio host

“In this feverish era for America and the world, Frank Bruni is the doctor we need. His diagnoses of our fractured politics are clear and compelling. His prescriptions are designed to heal. And his bedside manner—the wise, charming voice that has made him one of America’s most admired commentators—helps the medicine taste like sugar.” — David Von Drehle, Washington Post columnist and New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Charlie

“The Age of Grievance is much-needed reading for the self-righteous Ivy Leaguer and the red-hatted insurrectionist alike.” — Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast, MSNBC analyst and author of Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell

“Bruni is one of my favorite New York Times writers because he’s fun and sane and ecumenical.” — Joe Klein, veteran political journalist and bestselling author

The Age of Grievance

From bestselling author and longtime New York Times columnist Frank Bruni comes a lucid, powerful examination of the ways in which grievance has come to define our current culture and politics, on both the right and left.

Grievance needn’t be bad. It has done enormous good. The United States is a nation born of grievance, and across the nearly two hundred and fifty years of our existence as a country, grievance has been the engine of morally urgent change. But what happens when all sorts of grievances—the greater ones, the lesser ones, the authentic, the invented—are jumbled together? When people take their grievances to lengths that they didn’t before? A violent mob storms the US Capitol, rejecting the results of a presidential election. Conspiracy theories flourish. Fox News knowingly peddles lies in the service of profit. College students chase away speakers, and college administrators dismiss instructors for dissenting from progressive orthodoxy. Benign words are branded hurtful; benign gestures are deemed hostile. And there’s a potentially devastating erosion of the civility, common ground, and compromise necessary for our democracy to survive.

How did we get here? What does it say about us, and where does it leave us? The Age of Grievance examines these critical questions and charts a path forward.

Selected interviews about and coverage of the book:

• Excerpt from The Age of Grievance, “The Most Important Thing I Teach My Students Isn’t on the Syllabus,” The New York Times, 4/20/24.

• CBS Mornings interview about the book, 4/30/24.

• Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara interview about the book, current political matters and more, 5/23/24.

• CNBC Squawk Box interview about the book, 5/2/24.

• Next Question with Katie Couric recording of our onstage conversation about the book in Manhattan on 5/1/24.

• Interview on The Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller, 4/23/24.

coming Appearances

• Tuesday, May 27, Chapel Hill, N.C. Interviewing Molly Worthen, a frequent New York Times contributor, about her new book, Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump, at Flyleaf Books. Details here.

• Thursday, May 29, Asheville, N.C. Onstage conversation about The Age of Grievance and the rage-filled first 100 days of the Trump administration. Ferguson Auditorium, 6 p.m. Details here.