Let's Not Do That Again

Let's Not Do That Again is a comic family novel by Grant Ginder, the author of The People We Hate at the Wedding. It follows the Harrisons: a mother running for Senate, a son running from his problems, and a daughter running straight into trouble.

Nancy Harrison is determined to win her Senate race. She has said the right things and passed the right legislation, and she has done all the campaign-trail rituals. The one thing she can't control is her grown children. Her son Nick is struggling to write a musical about Joan Didion, titled Hello to All That! Her daughter Greta is smart and attractive but has no drive, and she lets her life drift by while she works at an Apple store.

Then one morning the headlines are about Greta, not Nancy. She is in Paris with extremist protestors, and she has thrown a bottle of champagne through the front window of a much-loved bistro. To rescue her campaign, and her daughter, Nancy and Nick have to find Greta before it is too late.

The novel is funny and tender, and it treats family, like politics, as a messy and fragile business.