Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘debut novel’

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Blog Tour! Bridget McNulty, author of Strange Nervous Laughter

by Anne Stameshkin

FWR is thrilled to host South African debut novelist Bridget McNulty for a stop on her book blog tour. In addition to sharing an excerpt from her book Strange Nervous Laughter, Bridget has also written a great post about the story and process behind it. (And if you haven’t yet seen “The Lonely Cupcake,” a one-minute whimsical fable/preview of the novel, watch it today; and check out behind-the-scenes photos from that project.) An excerpt from Strange Nervous Laughter: He arrived at her house in a hearse, which was perhaps not the best omen for a first date. What was unusual […]


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The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, by Tiffany Baker

by Celeste Ng

Tiffany Baker’s debut novel, The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, contains an apparent contradiction in its title: a little giant? Truly Plaice, the character so dubbed, is no Paul Bunyan: she doesn’t tower over rooftops or create canyons with her feet. But she’s plenty big enough to cause a stir: at five, she’s two inches taller than her seven-year-old sister, and she just keeps growing bigger and heavier. So she becomes known as Aberdeen’s “little giant,” a position that shapes her fate. And that oxymoron encapsulates this whimsical novel, which is, at its heart, about the yoking together of opposites.


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The Lonely Cupcake

by Anne Stameshkin

South African writer Bridget McNulty will make a (virtual) stop at FWR during her blog tour later this month when Strange Nervous Laughter (St. Martin’s), her debut novel, publishes. In the meantime, Bridget offers this lovely, wacky little film to get you in the mood for it. As she says: How can you resist watching a video with a name as intriguing as ‘The Lonely Cupcake‘? Especially when it’s only 1 minute long! And it’s only vaguely related to Strange Nervous Laughter. And it has cupcakes in it. With funny faces.


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The Unknown Knowns by Jeffrey Rotter

by Anne Stameshkin

On Thursday, Celeste read at Pete’s Candy Store with Jeffrey Rotter, whose debut novel The Unknown Knowns I’d been curious about. After hearing him read just a short excerpt, I picked up a copy. If the Dr. Seussish cover and Donald Rumsfeld allusion aren’t alluring enough, check out a sample here, and if Jeffrey Rotter is reading anywhere near you, don’t miss it. In the coming months, look for an interview with him here on FWR.


Reviews |

The Mayor's Tongue, by Nathaniel Rich

by Celeste Ng

Near the beginning of Nathaniel Rich’s debut novel, The Mayor’s Tongue, a young man named Eugene reads a novella by his idol, the legendary author Constance Eakins. “[It] was typical Eakins,” Eugene reflects, “a strange reality that bordered on fantasy, an exotic locale, larger-than-life characters.” He might have been describing The Mayor’s Tongue itself, a book so dizzyingly rich with surprises that no review could—or should—describe them all.


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recommended reading: Nami Mun at B&N-Tribeca (NYC) on 1/12

by Anne Stameshkin

Join me tomorrow night at Barnes & Noble in Tribeca (97 Warren St. @ Greenwich St.) at 7 PM to hear Pushcart- and Hopwood-prize-winning Nami Mun read from her debut novel, Miles From Nowhere. And look for an interview (soon!) with Nami on FWR. Miles from Nowhere began as a collection of linked stories (two of which I had the pleasure to read in workshop at Michigan, and several of which have been published in prestigious lit journals). As a novel, it holds together beautifully; Miles remains episodic, but breaks between chapters feel hauntingly like lost years–perfect for this particular […]




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