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“In her arresting debut novel, Edan Lepucki conjures a lush, intricate, deeply disturbing vision of the future, then masterfully exploits its dramatic possibilities.”
— Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad
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“This thrilling and thoughtful debut novel by Edan Lepucki follows a young married couple navigating dangers both physical and emotional in a wild, mysterious post-collapse America. It’s a vivid, believable picture of a not-so-distant future and the timeless negotiation of young marriage, handled with suspense and psychological acuity.”
— Janet Fitch, New York Times bestselling author of White Oleander
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“An expansive, full-bodied, and masterful narrative of humans caught in the most extreme situations, with all of our virtues and failings on full display: courage, cowardice, trust, betrayal, honor, and expedience. The final eighty pages of this book gripped me as much as any fictional denouement I’ve encountered in recent years…I firmly believe that Edan Lepucki is on the cusp of a long, strong career in American letters.”
— Ben Fountain, National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author of Billy Lynn’s Long Half-Time Walk
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“Edan Lepucki’s first novel comes steeped in Southern California literary tradition…One thinks of Steve Erickson or Cynthia Kadohata, or Carolyn See, whose 1987 novel Golden Days ends with the nuclear holocaust.”
— Los Angeles Times
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“Rewarding…[One of] thirty books you NEED to
read in 2014.”
— Huffington Post
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“Cal and Frida live in a
post-apocalyptic world, but the days and nights of these former LA residents
aren’t spent battling rampaging gangs or nests of zombies. Their life in the
wilderness is rigorous and spare, but their devotion to one another gets them
through…Edin Lepucki’s near future novel possesses an integrity and singularity
that thoughtful readers will appreciate.”
— Barnes & Noble, editorial review
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“What does a marriage look like
after the world ends? Edan Lepucki's terrific second novel California finds
itself concerned with the human element when society crumbles…California questions the role of family
and responsibility, and as a portrait of marriage, is perhaps as incisive as
anything set in the real world. And with the conviction with which Lepucki
renders the realities of her novel, it might behoove us to think of our world
as the pre-apocalypse.”
— Amazon.com, editorial review
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“Noteworthy…Lepucki’s debut is an inventive take on the post-apocalyptic novel, about a couple who moves from an isolated existence in the wilderness to a guarded community that, they soon realize, harbors terrifying secrets and unforseen dangers.”
— Time Out Chicago
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“The settings are haunting and Lepucki’s inquiry
into the psychology of trust, both intimate and communal, is keen and
compelling.”
— Booklist
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“California is a wonder: a big, gripping and inventive story built on quiet, precise human moments. Edan Lepucki’s eerie near future is vividly and persuasively imagined. She is a fierce new presence in American fiction.”
— Dana Spiotta, National Book Award–nominated author of Eat the Document
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“Stunning
and brilliant…A wholly original take on the post-apocalypse genre.”
— Dan Chaon, award-winning author of Await Your Reply
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“There’s been no shortage of apocalyptic scenarios in our recent literature. What makes Edan Lepucki’s novel so stunning is that her survivors don’t merely resemble us, they are us, in their emotional particularity and dilemmas. The result is a book as terse and terrifying as the best of Shirley Jackson, on the one hand, and as clear-eyed and profound a portrait of a marriage as Evan Connell’s Mrs. Bridge, on the other. California is superb.”
— Matthew Specktor, author of The American Dream Machine
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“It’s tempting to call this novel post-apocalyptic, but really, it’s about an apocalypse in progress, an apocalypse that might already be happening, one that doesn’r so much break life into before and after as unravel it bit by bit. Edan Lepucki tells her tale with preternatural clarity and total believability, in large part by focusing on the relationships—between husband and wife, brother and sister, parent and child—that are, it turns out, apocalypse-proof. Post-nothing. California is timeless.”
— Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
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“Edan Lepucki is the very best kind of writer: simultaneously generous and precise. I am long been an admirer of her prose, but this book—this book, this massive, brilliant book—is a four alarm fire, the ambitious and rich introduction that a writer of her caliber deserves. I can’t wait for the world to know what I have known for so many years, that Edan Lepucki is the real thing, and that we will all be bowing at her feet before long.”
— Emma Straub, author of The Vacationers
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“In her remarkable debut California, Edan Lepucki has conjured a post-apocalyptic vision that is honest, frightening, and altogether too realistic. At times disturbing and often heartbreaking, California is an original examination of the limitations of family and loyalty in a world on the verge of collapse.”
— Ivy Pochoda, author of Visitation Street
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“Edan Lepucki’s novel California kept me up for five nights. This was a problem. However, I was not just tired, but often worried for the characters, for our world, and then astonished and laughing at her skill with humor and lyricism even in the fearful landscape. It’s a ruined place, yes, but the bonds of family, and the betrayal of blood, are as true as every in her surprising imagery and her complicated humans, who could be any of us.”
— Susan Straight, National Book Award–nominated author of Highwire Moon
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“Breathtakingly original, fearless and inventive, pitch perfect in its portrayal of the intimacies and tiny betrayals of marriage, so utterly gripping it demands to be read in one sitting: Edan Lepucki’s California is the novel you have been waiting for, the novel that perfectly captures the hopes and anxieties of contemporary America. This is a novel that resonates on every level, a novel that stays with you for a lifetime. Read it now.”
— Joanna Rakoff, author of A Fortunate Age
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“When the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper, you want a guide whose insight into the subtle revolutions of the heart are as nuanced as her perceptions about the broken world are astute. In prose witty, seductive, and exacting, Lepucki reminds us that, in the after-life of social collapse, it’s not only the strongest willed, but the most compassionate among us, who must rebuild. California is an epic of interiors.”
— Shya Scanlon, author of Forecast
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“California is carefully drawn and beautifully textured. It’s a pleasure to watch love and family transform in this dark, strange forest.”
— Ramona Ausubel, award-winning author of No One Is Here Except All of Us