January-February 2026 On the Same Page Selection
The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley is a sharp, darkly funny novel that explores ambition, friendship, and the uneasy pursuit of security in uncertain times. The story follows Aretha, a driven lawyer whose carefully planned life veers off course when she moves in with her gun-dealing boyfriend and his doomsday-prepping roommates in Brooklyn. Blending satire with social insight, the book examines race, class, and the modern hustle with wit and heart—raising timely questions about what we sacrifice to feel safe and successful.
Kashana Cauley is the author of the new novel The Payback, a NYT Editor's Choice, and the novel The Survivalists, which was named a best book of 2023 by the BBC, the Today Show, Vogue and many other outlets. She’s also a TV writer who has written for The Great North, Pod Save America on HBO and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and a former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She has also written for The Atlantic, Esquire, The New Yorker, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, among other publications.
Kashana will be in conversation with Audrey T. Williams on February 22.
This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.
“This darkly funny doomsday satire is what many of us need right now. Offering a nuanced and only half-joking look into survivalism, capitalism, gun ownership and what it takes to survive in today’s world, Cauley provides a necessary tension-breaker.” —Karla Strand, Ms.
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