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A Novel
by Marcy Dermansky
Book Reviewed by:A joyfully unhinged story of money, marriage, sex, and revenge unspools when a billionaire crashes his hot-air balloon into the middle of a post-pandemic first date.
Joannie hadn't been on a date in seven years when Johnny invites Joannie and her daughter to dinner. His house is beautiful, his son is sweet, and their first kiss is, well, it's not the best, but Joannie could convince herself it was nice enough. But when Joannie's childhood crush, a summer-camp fling turned famous billionaire, crash-lands his hot-air balloon in Johnny's swimming pool, Joannie dives in.
Soon she finds herself alighting on a lost weekend with Johnny the bad kisser, Jonathan the billionaire, and Julia, his smart, stunning wife. Does Joannie want Jonathan? Does Julia want her husband? Or Joannie? Or Joannie's beautiful little girl? Does Johnny want Julia? Does Jonathan want Joannie, or Julia, or maybe, his much younger personal assistant, Vivian, who is tasked to fix it all? A tale of lust and money and lust for money, Hot Air is as astonishing as it is blisteringly funny, a delirious, delicious story for our billionaire era.
Excerpt
Hot Air
Joannie was not certain how the date was going. She had not been on a date for a very long time. Not since her divorce seven years ago. And then, of course, not during her ten years of marriage. She had never been on a proper date with her ex-husband even before they were married. He had just sort of worn her down, so clearly in love with her.
And that was a big chunk of her life.
Her marriage.
Years and years of her life. Stolen. Not only the opportunity to date, but to lead her life, spend her days the way she would have liked, instead of always trying to placate someone else. She did, of course, have a marvelous child. Lucy.
So, she was on a date. Joannie had met him not on an app but in real life, at a block party on a very fancy block around the corner from her not-that-fancy apartment. Her daughter had a friend who lived on this block. At the party, Joannie had gotten pleasantly drunk and accepted a hit from a joint, even though she did not like to smoke pot, because...
Single mother Joannie is finally putting herself out there. She's on her first date since her divorce several years earlier, eating dinner with fellow single parent Johnny in his backyard, when a hot air balloon with a man and woman aboard crash lands into his pool. Joannie jumps into action, diving into the water to rescue the man, only to discover that he's a famous tech tycoon—who also happens to be the first boy she ever kissed. The two couples start talking, and what started as a chance encounter turns into a gathering that stretches on for days. Chapters rotate among different character's point of view, so we get to see each of them through the others' eyes. It's so fun to watch these characters interact. Though the book's plot, especially its wacky beginning, makes it feel like a romp, it also has deep emotional resonance. While the book takes place over just a few days, we see the characters are profoundly changed by their unlikely friendship...continued
Full Review
(632 words)
(Reviewed by Jillian Bell).
Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist
Unapologetically and pleasurably absurd...This novel is a romp, full of the witty, razor sharp prose characteristic of all Dermansky's books. I cannot recommend this novel enough.The novel Hot Air begins with a hot air balloon falling from the sky into a backyard pool. Hot air balloons have a long history dating back to the eighteenth century, significantly predating the airplane. The hot air balloon was invented by French paper manufacturers (and brothers) Joseph Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, who were inspired by watching the way hot air lifted a paper or fabric bag. The first manned, untethered hot air balloon flight was in 1783.
Aboard were balloon pilot Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier, who had earlier in the year carried out the first tethered manned flight, and nobleman Marquis Francois D'Arlandes. The passengers remained in the air for 25 minutes and travelled five miles. This first balloon ...
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