{"product_id":"evil-genius-a-novel-isbn-9780063466487","title":"Evil Genius: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Recommended Read from: \u003ci\u003eAlta * Bustle * Electric Literature * Forbes * \u003c\/i\u003eLitHub *\u003ci\u003e Los Angeles Times * Kirkus * New York Times * People * Vulture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn exuberant, brutally hilarious novel about a young woman’s insatiable quest to carve her own path—even if she needs to step over a few dead bodies along the way\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s 1974 and San Francisco is full of mystery and menace. Nineteen-year-old Celia Dent keeps telling herself how lucky she is to be working at the phone company and to be married to her Drew, a man who says he loves her. Celia’s contentment with her little life is shattered, though, when a woman she knows from work is murdered in a love tryst gone awry. What would that be like, Celia wonders, to die for love—or to kill for love? What would it be like to live each moment passionately and with full awareness that each breath is bringing her closer to her last?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore Celia knows it, her musings about love-and-death happenings are bleeding into daily life. Suddenly she’s playing hooky from work and searching for a love tryst of her very own. She’s practicing her marksmanship at a local gun range and thinking about how good it would feel to bury something sharp inside her domineering husband’s ear. It’s all pretend, though, until the night comes when Celia finally goes too far, and she and Drew are set on a deadly collision course.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExhilarating, surreal, and bitingly clever, \u003ci\u003eEvil Genius\u003c\/i\u003e is a comic noir exploring obsession and desire—and what happens when a sweetly seditious young woman dares to imagine a better life.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"[A] noir delight of a novel . . . . \u003ci\u003eEvil Genius\u003c\/i\u003e is deceptively light on its feet, skittering across the page to deliver its scorpion sting.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This surreal, darkly hilarious novel about desire and the agency of women is delightfully original.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Ottessa Moshfegh’s \u003ci\u003eEileen \u003c\/i\u003emeets Bret Easton Ellis’ \u003ci\u003eAmerican Psycho\u003c\/i\u003e meets Barbara Loden’s \u003ci\u003eWanda \u003c\/i\u003emeets all kinds of queer feminist theory in the latest from Claire Oshetsky. . . . Against the backdrop of 1970s San Francisco, the fantasy gets a little too real for a 19-year-old daydreamer and phone company employee. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of humor in between the murder.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGreta Rainbow, Bustle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Masterful. . . A remarkable exploration of domestic abuse, coming-of-age, and the freedom to build our own lives.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This turn-of-the-thumbscrews-tense novel upends noir conventions.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times (“10 Best Books to Read in February”)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Deadpan and strange.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVulture (“8 New Books to Read This February”)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Oshetsky blends noir sensibilities with their signature surrealism, effortlessly slipping between dark humor and unnerving sensuality. The result is thrilling.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This dark, unconventional comedy is quirky, surprising, and sharp.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eElectric Literature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Darkly charming, highly original, and fiendishly clever.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus (Starred Review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“With their fourth novel,\u003ci\u003e Evil Genius\u003c\/i\u003e, Claire Oshetsky ascends to the throne as the monarch of unreliable narrators. . . . Although \u003ci\u003eEvil Genius\u003c\/i\u003e is set in mid-’70s San Francisco, it harks back to a noir convention established by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett nearly a hundred years ago . . . . But Oshetsky twists expectations in a manner uniquely their own. They adroitly draw upon literary tra­ditions without being bound by them, craft­ing a singular and captivating blend of noir and surrealism.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookPage (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A deliciously twisted send-up of standard mystery fare.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlta\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eEvil Genius\u003c\/i\u003e is both wickedly dark and decidedly funny. . . . What could have been a straightforward satire of the confessional true-crime genre is actually much more profound . . . This is a fantastically entertaining portrait of an unforgettable character.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookreporter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Oshetsky’s novel deftly rattles toward an inevitable collision course for its characters. Readers who enjoy noir plots injected with comedy will enjoy.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An enthralling, sharply funny, and unsettling read about abuse, murder, and desecrated Barbie dolls. Clever, biting, and impossible to put down.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEmily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In \u003ci\u003eEvil Genius\u003c\/i\u003e, Claire Oshetsky gives us the dark, brutal, and often hilarious voice of a character we see often, but so rarely get to hear from—the woman in a mid-20th century potboiler. Campy and exciting; surreal and sad. This is another stunner from a truly original writer.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAinslie Hogarth, author of Motherthing\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Strange, savage, and so compelling, \u003ci\u003eEvil Genius\u003c\/i\u003e is a can't-stop-turning-the-pages story about murder and the phone company. Claire Oshetsky's singular voice brings Celia to crackling life, even as the people around her keep dropping dead.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJulia Phillips, author of Bear and Disappearing Earth\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eEvil Genius\u003c\/i\u003e will rip your lips in the best possible ways. This sly, understated, and disarmingly unhinged novel makes you love sharp Celia Dent as she spins deliriously out of control. Perfect for comic-horror girlies who read Moshfegh's \u003ci\u003eEileen\u003c\/i\u003e and Jackson's \u003ci\u003eWe Have Always Lived in the Castle\u003c\/i\u003e and wanted more mayhem.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChelsea G. Summers, author of A Certain Hunger\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48252277260517,"sku":"NP9780063466487","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063466487.jpg?v=1768315365","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/evil-genius-a-novel-isbn-9780063466487","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}