"The humor and intelligence of
Sandra Newman's writing [has] won her comparisons to Kurt Vonnegut.
Like Vonnegut, she has the courage to follow her imagination down
twisting alleyways and around unlikely corners... It is heartening to
know there's a new voice out there willing and eager to take to the
stage in such a daring fashion." -- Myla Goldberg, New York Times Book
Review
"It is tremendously exciting to read Sandra Newman's work. I read
"Cake" in one sitting and thought it was wonderful. Here is a writer
prepared to take risks, who takes nothing for granted and who pushes
the form to create an extraordinary
and unforgettable world. Oh, and she's very funny, too." --
Clare Allan, author of Poppy Shakespeare. "
"A show-stealing, risk-taking
A witty, imaginative debut
from a young novelist with dazzling
first novel... Newman has a
intellectual
resources." -- Adrienne Miller, Esquire"
liltingly poetic rhythm, an
uncanny ear for dialogue
As compulsive as
an all-nighter with a new lover."
and nicely bathetic sense of
- Belle de Jour
comic timing." Guardian
Review of Books (UK)
"David Lynch and Dave Eggers aficionados
will find much to admire in this edgy,
"Newman has
strange, and dazzling first novel."
fashioned a
Library Journal (starred review)
first novel that is
anything but
"If you liked Foer's 'Everything is
by-the-numbers...
Illuminated,"you'll love "The Only
Full of false
Good Thing Anyone Has Ever
turns, fake names,
Done,"which mixed prose, poetry,
and jaw-dropping
lists, and outlines in an engagingly
coincidences,
eccentric story about identity and
all slotted neatly
seeking the truth in one's past."
together in
- Austin-American Statesman
Newman's blunt,
wry prose. A
"Exactly the kind of book I like
virtuoso perfor-
- funny and moving, quirky and
mance [that]
intelligent, and written in a
more than
fresh, original voice."
proves
- Kate Atkinson, author
Newman
of "Behind the Scenes
a writer worth
at the Museum"
watching."
Publishers
"Well-written,
Weekly
original, and
(starred
powerful."
review)
- Times
Literary
"Sandra
Supplement
Newman may well be the
Vonnegut of her
generation.
"Breathtaking writing...
"The Only Good Thing Anyone Has
Ever Done"
The dialogue is pitch-perfect, with
is a smart, bighearted,
hysterical, and gorgeously rendered
laugh-out-loud lines... An exhilarating read."
novel. Newman writes with the soul
of a deadpan angel and the eye
- Independent on Sunday
of a seen-it-all savant. Some
books entertain, and some enlighten.
"The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done" does both - and more."
"Newman's absurdist style, which has earned her comparisons to Vonnegut,
-- Jerry Stahl, author of "Permanent Midnight"
marks this debut novel as a possible cult hit." - Time Out New York