Camille Perri, author of The Assistants, writes in the NYTBR: “Jessica Winter’s debut novel is a funny and moving commentary on that point in a woman’s life when everything seems to come into question...Anyone who’s ever worked in an office inundated with phoniness, passive aggression and a communication style heavy on duplicity will get a kick out of Winter’s sendup of LIFt’s toxic environment and sugarcoated cruelty...Even the heaviest scenes of financial angst and other tensions go down easily because of the novel’s short, brisk chapters. So does Winter’s writing style, which is full of tightly packed sentences that build on themselves.”
Read the full review here.

“It’s the superb insights and penetrating writing that make this book remarkable... Winter is almost vicious in her dedication to truth...she lampoons the bourgeois Manhattanites who spend entire careers appropriating social justice movements for branding purposes and nothing else. There are a lot of them out there, and Winter captures their self-regarding bullshit with remarkable precision... Break in Case of Emergency asks the reader to consider whether a person’s problems can be serious and complex and important even though they are everybody else’s problems too... It's a high-quality tribute to ordinary experience, which makes it an extraordinary debut.” — The Guardian

"Very smart and juicy and weird and entertaining...it reads like a chick-lit plot written by Jonathan Franzen."
—Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Eligible

“If you need a New York map of our times, have Jessica Winter become your cartographer.  Sassy, sarcastic and sleek, this is a wonderfully brash appraisal of how we live.”
—Colum McCann, National Book Award–winning author of Let the Great World Spin

Extremely funny – a satirical masterpiece that is tender and existentially-minded as well. I loved it!’
–Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen

“Imagine living in a cross between Mean Girls and Silicon Valley. Now imagine your boss is a fake eyelash–loving, feminist mantra–chanting sitcom star. Let start-up rookie Jen show you how to deal.” —Cosmopolitan

"Haven't we all been mildly miserable at work from time to time? Wondering why no one else appreciates the absurdity of the unironic jargon and duplicity of our coworkers?.. Hilarious... The personal and workplace plots are woven together beautifully. Read, cringe, laugh, relate."
—Lenny, Lit Thursday: Phenomenal Novels

“Winter uses humor to illuminate the state of modern work, family, and friendship. She does a stellar job at depicting a place we likely know—or have run from, screaming.” –Elle

“Jessica Winter has given us not just one of the funniest books of the year, but an entire glorious comic universe that’s as addictive as it is immersive. Not a page goes by without a half dozen delights. Half dozen to a dozen. Sometimes more”
—Ed Park, author of Personal Days

“Jessica Winter nails the moment in your life when you go from “young” to “no longer young”—that see-saw teetering point between your 20s and 30s, and its specific mix of ignorance you’ll be embarrassed by later, and confidence you’ll someday wish you could have back.  If you’re wondering what it’s like to live in New York when you’re young, just buy Jessica Winter’s book.  It’s funny, satirical, and deftly written. And it’s much cheaper than a 2-bedroom in Brooklyn.”
—Mike Schur, co-creator of Parks and Recreation