Reader Score
77%
77% of readers
recommend this book
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 7 reviews on
The "wondrous" (O, The Oprah Magazine), "scathingly funny" (Entertainment Weekly) debut from Whiting Award winner and author of Big Swiss Jen Beagin about a cleaning lady named Mona and her quest for self-acceptance.
Jen Beagin's funny, moving, fearless debut novel introduces an unforgettable character, Mona--almost twenty-four, emotionally adrift, and cleaning houses to get by. She falls for a man she calls Mr. Disgusting, who proceeds to break her heart in unimaginable ways.
In search of healing, she decamps to Taos, New Mexico, for a fresh start, where she finds a community of cast-offs, all of whom have something to teach her--the pajama-wearing, blissed-out New Agers, the slightly creepy client with peculiar tastes in controlled substances, the psychic who might really be psychic. But always lurking just beneath the surface are her memories of growing up in a chaotic, destructive family from which she's trying to disentangle herself, and the larger legacy of the past.
The story of Mona's quest for belonging in this world is at once hilarious and wonderfully strange, true to life and boldly human, and introduces a stunning, one-of-a-kind new voice in American fiction.
Alessandra Bastagli is an editorial director.
I also think I know why I love Mona (& Greta) so much. Because she’s super familiar & yet totally exotic... it’s like Amelia Bedelia suddenly wandered onto the set of a David Lynch movie. And it’s totally brilliant. Can’t wait for book 4.
Poet•Writer•Filmmaker•CWcoordinator@SSU•Junior Miles and The Junkman (9•23)• Olympus Heights(10•23)• Celtics☘️ 🎥 https://t.co/1D8Cqcu4DJ ✌️
I read Jen Beagin’s first book (Pretend I’m Dead) and loved it. Just finished this one and loved it too. She’s the real deal. #writingcommunity #writers #writing #fiction https://t.co/AhvPSRSsYz
Since 1846, publisher of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Jesmyn Ward, Anthony Doerr, Jennifer Egan, Siddhartha Mukherjee, & more.
"The author of #PretendImDead & #VacuumInTheDark returns with another wonderfully off-kilter protagonist...#JenBeagin establishes her place among artfully eccentric writers like Nell Zink, Elif Batuman, & Jennifer Egan." #BigSwiss @KirkusReviews https://t.co/RJIbtwllPF
"Rib-ticklingly funny-sad... Beagin works magic in the space between hilarity and heartbreak... Absurdly affecting." --O Magazine
"Like Denis Johnson, Jen Beagin is able to find humanity and wonder (and yes, love) in some of the most forlorn and hopeless corners of our world." --Tom Perrotta, author of Mrs. Fletcher
"Rare is the encounter with such a frank and unflinching voice reporting from life on the edge, and rarer still the humor and compassion that Beagin manages to locate... This book invaded my dreams, took over my conversation, and otherwise seduced me totally." --Joshua Ferris, author of Then We Came to the End
"Jen Beagin has one of the freshest voices I've read in years--funny, wise, whip-smart and compassionate." --Jami Attenberg, author of The Middlesteins
"Sly, funny, compassionate... This is a terrific debut. Singularly enjoyable." --Kirkus (starred review)
"Amart, funny, darkly profound." --Nylon