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A Novel
by Kristen Arnett
From the New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things, a sparkling and funny new novel of entertainment, ambition, art, and love.
Cherry Hendricks might be down on her luck, but she can write the book on what makes something funny: she's a professional clown who creates raucous, zany fun at gigs all over Orlando. Between her clowning and her shifts at an aquarium store for extra cash, she's always hustling. Not to mention balancing her judgmental mother, her messy love life, and her equally messy community of fellow performers.
Things start looking up when Cherry meets Margot the Magnificent—a much older lesbian magician—who seems to have worked out the lines between art, business, and life, and has a slick, successful career to prove it. With Margot's mentorship and industry connections, Cherry is sure to take her art to the next level. Plus, Margot is sexy as hell. It's not long before Cherry must decide how much she's willing to risk for Margot and for her own explosive new act—and what kind of clown she wants to be under her suit.
Equal parts bravado, tenderness, and humor, and bursting with misfits, magicians, musicians, and mimes, Stop Me If You've Heard This One is a masterpiece of comedic fiction that asks big questions about art and performance, friendship and community, and the importance of timing in jokes and in life.
"Arnett paints an irresistible portrait of the artist as a clown...Despite, or perhaps due to, its absurdity and bittersweet undertones, Cherry's story makes a powerful case for pursuing one's art authentically and fearlessly. It's a riot." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[Kristen Arnett] really outdid herself this time, and Stop Me If You've Heard This One is a certified banger. Can't wait to force it into the hands of everyone I ever meet." —Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Quietly Hostile
"Is there any more brilliant and singular talent than Kristen Arnett? I cried laughing and ached at the zeniths of tenderness its tragicomic brilliance achieves. This may be the best book I've ever read." —Alissa Nutting, author of Tampa
This information about Stop Me If You've Heard This One 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.
Kristen Arnett is the author of the novel With Teeth, which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in fiction, and the New York Times bestselling novel Mostly Dead Things, which was shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, TIME, The Cut, Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. She lives in Orlando, Florida.
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