Monday, December 20, 2021

99 Erics on Kirkus Reviews' Best Indie Books of 2021!

Earlier this year, I was happy to announce that my first foray into fiction, 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel, was the winner of the Publishing Triangle’s 2021 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, and an Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) 2021 silver medalist in LGBT+ Fiction.

On top of all that, Kirkus Reviews just released their "Best Books of 2021" issue, and they included 99 Erics on their Best Indie Books of 2021 list! The entire list can be found via that link (you'll have to scroll down for 99 Erics, as the list is alphabetical by author last name). 

The full Kirkus review of 99 Erics is available online; here is an excerpt:

“Serano has written about gender identity and feminism in her nonfiction books Whipping Girl (2007) and Excluded (2013); she explores many of the same ideas in her debut work of fiction. The writing is conversational in style, and though Kat claims to be uninterested in banal descriptions, the scene-setting in various California locales works well. Kat recalls the Manic Pixie Dream Girls so often used in male-oriented stories, but she’s decidedly more warts and all in her presentation, almost too quirky to function, and enthusiastic about her role as ruler of all the Erics. The result is a lovable composite of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966) and a less murder-y version of Marvel’s Deadpool, using absurdism and humor to break down the fourth wall and the very idea of ‘normal,’ with all its silly little boxes and prejudices. If that makes the book sound serious, it isn’t — and that might be the most effective way it makes its readers think about identity. Knocks down literary conventions, sexual stereotypes, the fourth wall, and more in enthusiastic defense of the weird.”

As always, for more reviews, excerpts, details, virtual book readings, and where to purchase the book, please check out the 99 Erics webpage!