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A Novel
by Zee Carlstrom
An electrifying debut about a nonbinary corporate burnout embarking on a road trip from Chicago to Arkansas to find their conspiracy-theorist father, who has gone missing―for fans of Detransition Baby and Chain-Gang All-Stars.
The newly nameless narrator of Make Sure You Die Screaming has rejected the gender binary, has flamed out with a vengeance at their corporate gig, is most likely brain damaged from a major tussle with their now ex-boyfriend, and is on a bender to end all benders.
A call from their mother with the news that their MAGA-friendly, conspiracy-theorist father has gone missing launches the narrator from Chicago to deep red Arkansas in a stolen car. Along the way, the narrator and their new bestie―a self-proclaimed "garbage goth" with her own emotional baggage (and someone on her tail)―unpack the narrator's childhood and a recent personal loss that they refuse to face head-on.
An unflinching interrogation of class rage, economic (im)mobility, gender expression, and the rot at the heart of capitalism, Make Sure You Die Screaming is the loud, funny, tragic, suspenseful road trip novel of our times.
"The novel is low on plot, with a few key details from the narrator's biography needlessly positioned as big reveals, but Carlstrom effectively conjures a dystopian atmosphere and shrewdly mines themes about the draws and dangers of self-definition. It's a wild ride with a few too many dead ends, but readers seeking something off the beaten path will enjoy themselves." —Publishers Weekly
"I loved every loud, messy page. Zee Carlstrom is the first writer to make me feel better about my own life choices." ―Sam Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Wow, No Thank You
"Make Sure You Die Screaming roars to life from page one and never lets up. It's a Fear and Loathing for the generation devastated by the generation that brought us Fear and Loathing." ―Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby
"This intense, shapeshifting, nightmarish debut is like a sweatier, sweeter, queerer, and somehow more mullety Natural Born Killers, where all bets are off, all rules crossed out. Even just one line will keep you up all night." ―Patrick Nathan, author of The Future Was
This information about Make Sure You Die Screaming was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Zee Carlstrom grew up in Illinois and now works as a creative director. They live in Brooklyn.
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