Its narrative style mirrors that of her celebrity profiles, by having the titular character's troubles presented through the eyes and ears of an intermediary,[2] who has been seen as a stand-in for the author herself.

Fleishman Is in Trouble deals with the themes of gender roles, marriage and divorce, online dating, midlife crises, and class anxiety.

It premiered on Hulu on November 22, 2022, starring Jesse Eisenberg as the title character, Claire Danes as his ex-wife, and Lizzy Caplan and Adam Brody as Fleishman's best friends.

[17] On the September/October 2019 issue of Bookmarks, the book received (4.0 out of 5) stars, with the critical summary saying, "The result is an astute sociological study in our relationships and gender roles, and, opines NPR, "a maddening, unsettling masterpiece".

[18] The Guardian called it "an honest, powerful, human story with no apologies",[19] while Rolling Stone praised its "unsparing yet sympathetic depiction of the way we live now".

[3] The Washington Post opined that the novel "slices through the demeaning rules of the patriarchy just as effectively as she slays the fatuous optimism of that 'girl-power' propaganda fed to modern girls".

[21] The Harvard Crimson panned its writing as "lazy" and further said that the book "rarely [shows] more than the various characters' selfish desires to run away from the lives they've willingly signed up for".