Emma Straub’s 2026 novel, American Fantasy, is a work of contemporary fiction from the New York Times best-selling author of titles such as All Adults Here and This Time Tomorrow. The story is set on a four-day fan cruise for Boy Talk, a fictional 1980s boy band whose members are now in their fifties. Told from the alternating perspectives of a disillusioned band member, a recently divorced 50-year-old fan attending alone, and the cruise’s overworked production manager, the novel explores the intense world of fandom as these characters navigate personal and professional crises. The narrative examines themes including Fandom as a Space for Female Community and Identity, The Duality of Nostalgia as Both Comfort and Cage, and The Deconstruction of the Celebrity Persona.

Straub is known for her warm and character-driven explorations of modern relationships and her use of the novel to tap into real-world cultural phenomena. American Fantasy is set against a cultural backdrop of modern nostalgia, where cultural products and experiences from past decades are repackaged for adult consumers. The American Fantasy cruise mirrors real-life events, such as annual fan cruises hosted by the band New Kids on the Block, which cultivate intense, one-sided parasocial relationships between artists and their devoted followers. By placing the characters within this immersive environment, the novel analyzes the complex interplay between commercial enterprise, artistic integrity, and the powerful, decades-long emotional investment of fans.

This guide refers to the 2026 Riverhead Books hardcover edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of mental illness, addiction, substance use, sexual content, and cursing.

Plot Summary

Set aboard the American Fantasy, a cruise ship hosting a four-day fan cruise for Boy Talk, a fictional late-1980s boy band now in their fifties, the novel follows three alternating perspectives: Keith Fiore, one of the band’s vocalists; Annie, a recently divorced 50-year-old marketing executive attending solo; and Sarah, the production manager from JackRabbit Productions responsible for running the cruise.

On turnaround day in Miami, Florida, Sarah oversees the ship’s changeover with Tyler, her incompetent temporary assistant and her boss’s nephew. Sarah is staying for back-to-back cruises because her ex-girlfriend, Lexie, has left her for a younger woman named Plum and taken their cat. She briefs Tyler on Boy Talk’s five members: brothers Shawn and Keith Fiore, Corey West, Scotty Sanchez, and Terrence Campbell.

Keith boards the ship dreading the cruise, having spent the year psyching himself up for it. He reflects on the band’s roughly 15-year hiatus after Corey broke up the group, during which Keith went to Alcoholics Anonymous and therapy, made a failed solo record, and struggled with depression. Corey rocketed to solo fame in film before returning to Boy Talk because he needed the fans’ forgiveness after public scandals. Shawn pushed Keith to agree to the reunion, invoking their mother and the other members’ financial needs. Keith likens the cruise to donating blood: The adoration of the “Talkers,” as the devoted fans call themselves, is energizing onstage but leaves him depleted for days. At home, his marriage to his wife, Steffani, has settled into a cold “gray zone”; she refuses therapy and considers the Talkers “freaks.”

Annie arrives at the terminal alone. Her sister, Katherine, a lifelong Talker, booked the cruise as a birthday present for herself, but Katherine broke her leg. Annie was a casual fan in her youth but abandoned the band in college after a roommate shamed her. She is processing a recent divorce from her husband, Chris; an empty nest after her daughter, Claudia, left for college; and a pervasive sense of aimlessness. She boards the ship and meets her assigned roommate, Maira, a veteran Talker from New Jersey who has been on every cruise and claims to have worked for Scotty. Annie then discovers a devastating email from her boss, Geoff: She has been effectively demoted, with Kayla, a former intern barely older than Claudia, installed as her new superior. Maira pulls an overwhelmed Annie toward the sail-away party.

In the Sanctuary, the band’s private hospitality area on Deck 7, Shawn arrives late and introduces Jonathan Schenk, a man he calls his new executive coach and holistic adviser. Bobby, the band’s longtime manager, exchanges a wary look with Keith; both sense that Jonathan’s presence threatens Bobby’s established role. Corey boards last, generating screams from fans, and Sarah escorts him to his suite, noting his singular charisma.

At the sail-away party on the lido deck, Annie watches a countdown on the jumbotron before Boy Talk appears on a balcony. She bursts into tears, overwhelmed by the spectacle, the accumulation of her life’s disappointments, and the unexpected power of seeing these men from her childhood. Keith smiles at the crowd near her, and she smiles back as the ship departs Miami.

The first two days establish the cruise’s rhythms: a quiz show, theme parties, and the grueling Photo Day, during which every guest gets a photo with the band. Keith hates Photo Day most. When Annie reaches him in the line, she asks if he’s okay, a genuine question that visibly shakes him; no one else asks him real questions. He asks if she’s okay, and the brief exchange resonates for both of them.

Shortly afterward, Keith flees the photo line and has a panic attack in a bathroom. Sarah finds him, and he bursts into tears; it’s the first time he has cried in front of another person since childhood. She hugs him, and Keith feels the difference between the Talkers’ touches and genuine human connection. Back on deck with Sarah, Keith puts a smile back on, but Shawn’s face hardens when he sees him.

That night, after the full band concert, Annie dresses as Madonna for MTV Night. Keith, costumed as Bob Dylan, spots her from the stairs and gives her a thumbs-up. Later, at Shawn’s after-hours party, Annie and Keith make sustained eye contact across the room. On the smoking deck, Keith appears beside her and lights her cigarette, and they talk. She mentions her work or an opera publication and her love for the artform; he says his mother loved Puccini. The two feel a connection.

On the third day, Shawn and Jonathan visit Keith’s cabin and pitch a Boy Talk world tour, framed as a legacy play that would sideline Bobby in favor of Jonathan. Keith flatly refuses. Shawn accuses Keith of wasting his potential, and Keith suspects that Corey has already been consulted. Shawn’s evasion confirms this. After they leave, Keith screams face-down into the carpet.

Meanwhile, Annie begins a flirtation with Greg, a recurring male cruise attendee. That night, after the Pajama Night party, they kiss on an upper deck and return to Annie’s cabin. Maira walks in on them and reveals that Greg is a serial cruise hookup artist who lives with his parents. Annie tells Maira that she’s not sorry for what she was doing.

On the final full day of the cruise, Corey propositions Sarah in his cabin while she retrieves him for the costume contest. She tells him to put his shirt on and leaves, disgusted. That evening, as the band gathers in an elevator for Prom Night, Sarah whispers to Keith what Corey did. Corey taunts Keith, mocking his unhappiness as a nightly performance that the rest of them endure. When the elevator doors open in front of dozens of filming Talkers, Keith lunges at Corey and punches him in the face. Shawn pulls them apart. Keith declares that he’s done with the cruise and won’t participate in a world tour.

Simultaneously, Theresa, a Talker who holds a grudge against Maira over financial losses tied to Scotty’s multilevel-marketing business, confronts Maira. Maira grabs Theresa by the hair and throws her to the ground. Staff escort Maira to the cabin, leaving Annie without a room. Keith offers Annie the spare stateroom in the Sanctuary.

Alone on a couch, Keith and Annie have a real conversation. Keith explains that his fight with his bandmates was about years of power dynamics with Corey and Shawn. Annie tells Keith about her divorce and her dawning intention to quit her job. He tells her that she looks kind and curious. She tells him that he looks like he could use a break. Bobby checks in briefly, hinting that the world tour may proceed and implying that Keith could be phased out, which confirms Keith’s fears.

Later, Jonathan leads a group visualization exercise, encouraging participants to imagine their ultimate futures. Keith pictures himself walking anonymously through New York City, realizing that it’s not too late for his own life. Annie watches him and recognizes the moment as genuine intimacy.

Afterward, Keith shows Annie to the spare stateroom. They stand at the door, embrace, and kiss. Annie remarks at the pleasantness of the kiss. Keith returns to his room to find a pen as words and rhymes form in his mind.

On debarkation morning, Sarah discovers from social media that Lexie and Plum have broken up. She rejoices at the news. Meanwhile, Annie finds Maira packing and tells her how much she loved the cruise. She then reflects on opera heroines who die at the end of their stories and decides that she wants a different kind of ending, one where the page turns instead. Keith doesn’t wait for Shawn or Corey. He knocks on Scotty’s door and kisses him on the forehead. He then pulls his suitcase to the gangway, hugging every Talker he can along the way. He acknowledges that it may not be over forever, but for now, his time with Boy Talk has to be enough. Annie waits in the debarkation line and chooses not to take a photo at the final photo op, wanting her memory to do the work. She imagines herself on the sidewalks of New York City, encountering someone coming her way and knowing what she will find when she looks up.