About the Author

Mary Gaitskill is the author of the story collections Bad Behavior, Because They Wanted To (nominated for a PEN/Faulkner Award), and Don’t Cry, and the novels The Mare, Veronica (nominated for a National Book Award) and Two Girls, Fat and Thin. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories, and The O. Henry Prize Stories.

Reviews

“Gatiskill is enormously gifted. . . . [Veronica] is a masterly examination of the relationship between surface and self, culture and fasion, time and memory." —The New York Times Book Review

"Gaitskill has written a novel that will leave you shaking and joyful simultaneously, dizzy with the proximity of private terror and bottomless hope." —O, The Oprah Magazine “Twisted, beautiful, grotesque, graceful, and exceedingly well-executed. People write their whole lives in the hope of coming up with just one sentences that rises to the level of this book.” —The Sunday Oregonian“Gaitskill taps into a deeper vein of emotional force, and with vivid language and an absorbing architecture, she delivers her most affecting, sophisticated work to date.” —The Boston Globe“Beautiful, devastating. . . . Gaitskill devotes almost religious attention to language and to our failure to make our lives as grand as the art we love. There are paragraphs like poems in Veronica that lure you back, over and over.” —Elle"Gaitskill writes so radiantly about violent self-loathing that the very incongruousness of her language has shocking power." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times"Sensuous and precise. . . . Veronica captures the nexus between the erotic glamour [of the 1980's] and its epic heartlessness." —Entertainment Weekly"Gaitskill writes from the gut . . . [Her] characters bleed, sweat, cry, and they experience sadness, anger and love as much as a physical sensation as an emotion." —San Francisco Chronicle"Gaitskill's style is gorgeously caustic . . . Her ability to capture abstract feelings and sensations with a prescise and unexpected metaphor is a squirmy delight to encounter in such abundance." —Heidi Julavits, Pubishers Weekly“[Veronica] creates an atmosphere, provokes a response, and suffuses us with an emotion that we can easily, all too easily, summon up. It's art that you can continue to see even with your eyes closed." —Francine Prose, Slate

"Gatiskill is enormously gifted. . . . [Veronica] is a masterly examination of the relationship between surface and self, culture and fasion, time and memory." -The New York Times Book Review

"Gaitskill has written a novel that will leave you shaking and joyful simultaneously, dizzy with the proximity of private terror and bottomless hope." -O, The Oprah Magazine "Twisted, beautiful, grotesque, graceful, and exceedingly well-executed. People write their whole lives in the hope of coming up with just one sentences that rises to the level of this book." -The Sunday Oregonian"Gaitskill taps into a deeper vein of emotional force, and with vivid language and an absorbing architecture, she delivers her most affecting, sophisticated work to date." -The Boston Globe"Beautiful, devastating. . . . Gaitskill devotes almost religious attention to language and to our failure to make our lives as grand as the art we love. There are paragraphs like poems in Veronica that lure you back, over and over." -Elle"Gaitskill writes so radiantly about violent self-loathing that the very incongruousness of her language has shocking power." -Janet Maslin, The New York Times"Sensuous and precise. . . . Veronica captures the nexus between the erotic glamour [of the 1980's] and its epic heartlessness." -Entertainment Weekly"Gaitskill writes from the gut . . . [Her] characters bleed, sweat, cry, and they experience sadness, anger and love as much as a physical sensation as an emotion." -San Francisco Chronicle"Gaitskill's style is gorgeously caustic . . . Her ability to capture abstract feelings and sensations with a prescise and unexpected metaphor is a squirmy delight to encounter in such abundance." -Heidi Julavits, Pubishers Weekly"[Veronica] creates an atmosphere, provokes a response, and suffuses us with an emotion that we can easily, all too easily, summon up. It's art that you can continue to see even with your eyes closed." -Francine Prose, Slate

In her first novel in ten years, Gaitskill (Bad Behavior; Two Girls, Fat and Thin) offers an ode to the complex feelings that manifest in women's friendships. When Alison, a fashion model recovering from a stint on the Paris runway, meets Veronica, she is immediately drawn to the older woman's quirky irreverence. As the two become closer, Alison is pulled into Veronica's colorful, if often dysfunctional, world. Although Gaitskill's protagonists are perfectly hewn, a host of ancillary characters adds heft to the story. What's more, the excesses of the 1980s-including sex and drugs-give a rich patina to the world of the hip and their imitators. Sadly, the nonstop party ends when Veronica contracts AIDS. Much of the narrative takes place on a single day in which a now middle-aged Alison reflects on her life via an onslaught of flashbacks. While this time frame stretches credibility, the novel is so well wrought that it barely matters. Beautifully and sensitively crafted, Gaitskill's return is highly recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/05.]-Eleanor J. Bader, Brooklyn, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.