I keep trying Backman books because they are so popular, and I find the discussion around them fascinating. Yet there definitely seems to be a polarizing component to his work. And increasingly I find myself in the ‘it’s just not for me’ camp. I disliked A Man Called Ove, felt that Beartown was quite good, but now Anxious People is swinging back towards that sense of emotional over-manipulation I got with Ove.
I will say that I absolutely admire his sense of humor and prose: he deftly conveys complex facets of the human condition.

“That’s an impossible thing for sons to grasp, and a source of shame for fathers to have to admit: that we don’t want our children to pursue their own dreams or walk in our footsteps. We want to walk in their footsteps while they pursue our dreams.”

Yet his stories feel more like parables, and characters typecast. The narrative structure for Anxious People was odd and hard to get my bearings. Though I eventually found it entertaining and found myself intrigued by the story and the interaction between the characters, but… in a detached way. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig landed similarly for me, which is also a hugely popular novel. So, your mileage will definitely vary! I will say if you are a fan of the one author you will probably be a fan of the other.