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Exquisite Mariposa: A Novel Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Given the initials F.A.D. at birth, Fiona Alison Duncan has always had an eye for observing the trends around her. But after years of trying to please others, looking for answers in books and astrological charts, and clocking endless hours as a celebrity journalist just to make rent, Fiona discovers another way of existing: in the Real, a phenomenological state few humans live in.
Fiona’s journey to the Real takes her to Koreatown, Los Angeles, where she sublets a room in La Mariposa. There she meets a cast of friends and lovers, like Amalia, an artist whose muse is her pet pigeon; Lucien, an infamous philanderer; and Morgan, whose anxiety keeps her from ever sitting still. When Fiona is offered the chance to turn her new household into a reality TV show, she jumps at the opportunity―but it isn’t long before she begins to question this new script.
In the midst of her Saturn Return, Fiona pulls the plug on the reality TV deal, heals a few addictions, and returns to writing with Exquisite Mariposa, a debut novel starring her housemates as they ask questions of survival, art, love, language, and the possibilities of rewriting one’s life.
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“Exquisite Mariposa is one of those books that had me from the first sentence to the last and beyond. Duncan churns up all the digital, performative, hypersocial chaos of our present ‘reality,’ even of the near future, and crystallizes it into dreamy and raw poetry. Page after page, paragraph after paragraph, this story, built on jewel-like insights, sometimes made me laugh and sometimes made me sad and always registered as true.”
— Jardine Libaire, author of White Fur
Quotes
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“Wordplay and sonic games abound.”
— New Yorker -
“Exquisite Mariposa knows the seduction of stars (celebrities) and stars (celestial).”
— Los Angeles Review of Books -
“A funny, thought-provoking novel that levels pointed critiques at gender and class inequality and captures what it’s like to be a young person today.”
— Foreword Reviews -
“A splendidly weird and comforting debut novel about the costs of living happily in a society overrun with demoralizing demands.”
— Paperback Paris -
“An original, insightful debut that doesn’t quite fit in a box—but checks them all.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“Ecstatic and painful, Exquisite Mariposa is a diligent search for the heart of The Real, taking its place alongside the great Young Girl books of becoming, from Mary McCarthy’s The Company She Keeps to Sally Rooney’s Conversations With Friends. To Duncan, The Real equals self-knowledge, compassion, perception. She is a genius and I’d follow her anywhere.”
— Chris Kraus, author of After Kathy Acker -
“An unapologetically raw account of coming of age broke in Trump-era Los Angeles in the social media–saturated Now, this meditation (almost manifesto?) on materialism, media, power, performance, and sexuality uses inventive, of-the-moment language to tackle that circuitous route to self-discovery that is your twenties—in a startlingly original way.”
— Lilibet Snellings, author of Box Girl: My Part Time Job As an Art Installation
Awards
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Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award
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A Nylon Magazine Pick of the Month
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A Millions.com Pick of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year
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A High Country News Pick of the Season's Best Books
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Longlisted for the Northern California Book Award for Fiction
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About Fiona Alison Duncan
Fiona Alison Duncan is a Canadian American artist, writer, and organizer. She’s the founding host of Hard to Read, a lit series, and Pillow Talk, community organizing on sex, love, and communication. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.
About Natasha Soudek
Natasha Soudek was raised in the South, speaks native German, lived in Berlin and Vienna, and finally settled in the Lower East Side of New York City. After honing her stage presence by studying acting and playing hundreds of live music shows (singing and playing bass), she moved to LA to record with Channel/DreamWorks and act on TV. Her voice is as distinct and memorable as the range of characters she’s played on-screen.