Mostly Dead Things, Kristen Arnett
Mostly Dead Things, Kristen Arnett
4 Rating(s)
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Mostly Dead Things

Author: Kristen Arnett

Narrator: Jesse Vilinsky

Unabridged: 10 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/04/2019

Categories: Fiction, Family Life

Synopsis

One morning, Jessa-Lynn Morton walks into the family taxidermy shop to find that her father has committed suicide, right there on one of the metal tables. Shocked and grieving, Jessa steps up to manage the failing business, while the rest of the Morton family crumbles. Her mother starts sneaking into the shop to make aggressively lewd art with the taxidermied animals. Her brother Milo withdraws, struggling to function. And Brynn, Milo’s wife―and the only person Jessa’s ever been in love with―walks out without a word.As Jessa seeks out less-than-legal ways of generating income, her mother’s art escalates―picture a figure of her dead husband and a stuffed buffalo in an uncomfortably sexual pose―and the Mortons reach a tipping point. For the first time, Jessa has no choice but to learn who these people truly are, and ultimately how she fits alongside them.Kristen Arnett’s debut novel is a darkly funny, heart-wrenching, and eccentric look at loss and love.

About Kristen Arnett

Kristen Arnett is a queer fiction and essay writer. She won the 2017 Coil Book Award for her debut short fiction collection, Felt in the Jaw, and was awarded Ninth Letter’s 2015 Literary Award in Fiction. She’s a columnist for Literary Hub, and her work has either appeared or is upcoming in North American Review, the Normal School, Gulf Coast, TriQuarterly, Guernica, Electric Literature, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Bennington Review, Tin House Flash Fridays / The Guardian, Salon, The Rumpus, and elsewhere.

About Jesse Vilinsky

Jesse Vilinsky is an accomplished voice actor and improviser. She received her bachelor’s degree in theatre from the University of Southern California and trained and performed with the prestigious British American Drama Academy in London. An alumnus of The Second City Training Center in Hollywood, she co-wrote and performed in two acclaimed original sketch comedy shows there. She has lent her voice to numerous projects, and she relishes any opportunity to breathe life into a character.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Roxane

I really enjoyed this novel. The physicality of it is impressive. Every aspect of living is splayed out--the smells, tastes, textures of human bodies interacting without human bodies. At the heart of it is a brother and sister, in love with the same woman who leaves them both to pick up the pieces o......more

Goodreads review by Christopher

This is one of the strangest books I've ever read, and it was fantastic. Florida can be weird, and Kristen Arnett was like, "hold my beer," and created a wacky, gut-punching gem of a book. It's a reminder that families are always changing, families can be flawed, and that learning to be vulnerable i......more

Quotes

“Mostly Dead Things is one of the strangest and funniest and most surprising first novels I’ve ever read.” Karen Russell, New York Times bestselling author

“It’s funny, dark, complex, and queer.” USA Today

“The action flips from the past to the present, swimming through first love and first grief on a slick of red Kool-Aid and vodka, suntan oil and fruity lip gloss, easy and unforced. This book is my song of the summer.” New York Times

“[Arnett] gets many things right in this first novel: the feeling of being trapped and vulnerable within one’s own family.” Washington Post

“Narrator Jesse Vilinksky gives a wistful performance of Arnett’s debut novel…Vilinsky’s melancholy narration highlights the fact that Jessa is deeply depressed, a reality Jessa herself can’t acknowledge. Other characters, mostly members of the Morton family, are easily distinguishable, thanks to Vilinksy’s fully developed voices…She fully captures the emotional core of this story about family and the strange contours of grief.” AudioFile

“Jesse Vilinsky is able to narrate Jessa’s first-person account in a manner that lets readers know that Jessa has spent her life hiding her feelings. She fittingly adds bursts of emotion and a quivering quality to her voice but is able to keep her overall manner reserved. All of the characters have their own distinct voices.” Booklist (audio review)

“A family drama that’s as weirdly wonderful as it is captivating.” Paste

“A strange, loving, and often startlingly funny portrait of loss and the act of piecing together the scraps of what’s left in grief’s wake.” BuzzFeed

“A bold, dark and profoundly comic novel about the nature of love, loss, and invention.” BookPage

“Arnett writes with keen perception and clarity throughout, not just of grief and old wounds but of the working-class Florida landscape in which the Mortons live. This is an exquisitely painful and tender story, compassionate and understanding of its characters and their myriad flaws.” Shelf Awareness

Awards

  • Esquire pick
  • BuzzFeed Books Pick
  • Huffington Post Pick
  • Boston Globe Pick
  • Bustle Pick
  • Literary Hub Pick
  • New York Times bestseller
  • USA Today Pick
  • Chicago Review of Books Pick
  • Paste Magazine Pick
  • New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
  • Electric Literature
  • Slate Magazine Best Book
  • Vanity Fair Magazine Pick
  • Atlantic Best Book
  • Lambda Literary Award
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