How could a novel be both hilarious and sad at the same time? Well, I'm here to tell you, this story delivers both feelings. The Swimmers reads like a memoir, I had to look back at the cover to remember that it is a novel. I loved the story at the underground pool and only later did I realize that pool was metaphor for the life of the mind. This metaphor folded seamlessly into the story of one of the swimmers who is losing her mind. I'm planning to get Julie Otsuka's other book, that's how much I love this author. Highly recommended. R. Williams, co-author of The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction.