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Mostly Dead Things Audiobook
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Publisher Description
One morning, Jessa-Lynn Morton walks into the family taxidermy shop to find that her father has committed suicide, right there on one of the metal tables. Shocked and grieving, Jessa steps up to manage the failing business, while the rest of the Morton family crumbles. Her mother starts sneaking into the shop to make aggressively lewd art with the taxidermied animals. Her brother Milo withdraws, struggling to function. And Brynn, Milo’s wife―and the only person Jessa’s ever been in love with―walks out without a word.
As Jessa seeks out less-than-legal ways of generating income, her mother’s art escalates―picture a figure of her dead husband and a stuffed buffalo in an uncomfortably sexual pose―and the Mortons reach a tipping point. For the first time, Jessa has no choice but to learn who these people truly are, and ultimately how she fits alongside them.
Kristen Arnett’s debut novel is a darkly funny, heart-wrenching, and eccentric look at loss and love.
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“Narrator Jesse Vilinksky gives a wistful performance of Arnett’s debut novel…Vilinsky’s melancholy narration highlights the fact that Jessa is deeply depressed, a reality Jessa herself can’t acknowledge. Other characters, mostly members of the Morton family, are easily distinguishable, thanks to Vilinksy’s fully developed voices…She fully captures the emotional core of this story about family and the strange contours of grief.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“Mostly Dead Things is one of the strangest and funniest and most surprising first novels I’ve ever read.”
— Karen Russell, New York Times bestselling author -
“It’s funny, dark, complex, and queer.”
— USA Today -
“The action flips from the past to the present, swimming through first love and first grief on a slick of red Kool-Aid and vodka, suntan oil and fruity lip gloss, easy and unforced. This book is my song of the summer.”
— New York Times -
“[Arnett] gets many things right in this first novel: the feeling of being trapped and vulnerable within one’s own family.”
— Washington Post -
“Jesse Vilinsky is able to narrate Jessa’s first-person account in a manner that lets readers know that Jessa has spent her life hiding her feelings. She fittingly adds bursts of emotion and a quivering quality to her voice but is able to keep her overall manner reserved. All of the characters have their own distinct voices.”
— Booklist (audio review) -
“A family drama that’s as weirdly wonderful as it is captivating.”
— Paste -
“A strange, loving, and often startlingly funny portrait of loss and the act of piecing together the scraps of what’s left in grief’s wake.”
— BuzzFeed -
“A bold, dark and profoundly comic novel about the nature of love, loss, and invention.”
— BookPage -
“Arnett writes with keen perception and clarity throughout, not just of grief and old wounds but of the working-class Florida landscape in which the Mortons live. This is an exquisitely painful and tender story, compassionate and understanding of its characters and their myriad flaws.”
— Shelf Awareness -
“A celebration of the strangeness of life and love and loss, all of it as murky as a Florida swamp but beautiful in its wildness.”
— Nylon -
“Arnett’s vision of Florida as a creative swamp of well-meaning misfits and the sweet hopefulness of finding your way back to yourself through family.”
— Literary Hub -
“Arnett brings all of Florida’s strangeness to life through the lens of a family snowed under with grief.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Set in a richly rendered Florida and filled with delightfully wry prose and bracing honesty, Arnett’s novel introduces a keenly skillful author with imagination and insight to spare.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“A clever debut with a Florida setting that brings to mind writers such as Karen Russell and Lauren Groff.”
— Library Journal -
“Kristen Arnett is the queen of the Florida no one has ever told you about, and on every page she brings it to a steely and vivid life.”
— Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
Awards
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An Esquire Magazine Pick of Most Anticipated Books of 2019
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A BuzzFeed Books Pick of Summer Audiobooks for Road-Tripping
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A Huffington Post Pick of 2019 Books We're Looking Forward To
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A Boston Globe Pick of Books We Can't Wait to Read
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A Bustle Pick of 2019's Books to Add to Your Reading LIst
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A Literary Hub Pick of Best Books of the Year
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New York Times bestseller
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A USA Today Pick for Celebrating Pride Month
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A Chicago Review of Books Pick of Best Books of 2019 So Far
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Paste Magazine Pick of Best of the Month
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A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice of the Week
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An Electric Literature Pick of 15 Best Novels of the Year
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A Slate Magazine Best Book of the Year in Audiobooks
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A Vanity Fair Magazine Pick of Best Books of 2019
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An Atlantic Best Book of 2019
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Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award
Mostly Dead Things Listener Reviews
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Laurie Fuller, 11/28/2019
About Kristen Arnett
Kristen Arnett is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Mostly Dead Things and the story collection Felt in the Jaw. A queer writer based in Florida, she has written for the New York Times, Guernica, BuzzFeed, McSweeney’s, The Guardian, Salon, and elsewhere. She has been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and a winner of the Ninth Letter Literary Award in Fiction and the Coil Book Award.
About Jesse Vilinsky
Jesse Vilinsky is a classically trained actress and voice actor, having graduated from the USC School of Dramatic Arts and BADA in London. She has lent her voice to numerous film and television projects and has worked on various video games, animation, and commercial projects as well. As a narrator, Jesse has garnered recognition in AudioFile magazine for her expertly voiced characters and ability to bring forth the strength and truth of their stories.