"A book by Blau would be disappointing without pot smoking, hilarious and sometimes grungy sex, and bickering relatives." - Boston Globe "It''s hard to recall a debut as warm, charming and comically satisfying as The Summer of Naked Swim Parties . Blau conveys Jamie''s world with compelling insight and wit . [Blau''s] sharp observation and affectionate humor [give] surprising depth to this shimmering novel." - San Francisco Chronicle "This book will make you laugh and cry in public. Jessica Anya Blau has written a soaring teenage lament, perfectly pitched, containing the single saddest and funniest line of seduction ever uttered." - Larry Doyle, author of I Love You, Beth Cooper "Jessica Anya Blau has taken the story of a young woman''s search for self and rendered it into a hilarious, cocaine-fueled thrill-ride. From its Tarantino-esque opening scene to its twisty final pages, THE WONDER BREAD SUMMER is an unrelenting delight.
" - Jon Michaud, author of When Tito Loved Clara "A rollicking, irreverent, sweep of a novel. Blau has written another shining, no-holds barred California heart breaker." - Deborah Reed, author of Carry Yourself Back To Me "In The Wonder Bread Summer , Jessica Anya Blau returns with all the comedic powers of a master trickster. Her astonishing ability to both stun and disarm, shock and smite the reader using humor and a new kit of outrageous antics and 1980''s characters, tosses us deep into humanity''s darker waters of loss and abandonment while simultaneously yanking us back onto the bows of our buoyant but fragile boats. Her heroine, Allie, a college co-ed, is enmeshed in a cohort of petty cocaine thieves, aging rock stars, Billy Idol, and a porn star producer in a wheelchair that only Hunter Thompson would embrace. Add Allie''s pathetic, absentee mother and a peripatetic father to the mix and it''s a mad, mad care chase up and down California''s sunny coasts. Urged on by the voice of her dead, Chinese grandmother, Allie flees for her life and lunges toward personal truths that promise to set her free." - Jessica Keener, author of the nationally-bestselling novel Night Swim "Jessica Anya Blau is a fearless, hilarious writer, with a genius for pacing and a massive gift for creating fabulous characters.
In The Wonder Bread Summer, through the adorable, although not completely innocent, college student Allie, we get to live through a California summer in 1983 in all its glory: cocaine, Candie''s high heels, sexual misconduct and even Billy Idol! Blau has crafted a totally unique coming of age story, wrapped in a road trip with a drug caper center. It''s a wild, exuberant novel, full of humor, heart and a solid dose of bad behavior. I loved it." - Paula Bomer, author of Nine Months "Picaresque, properly funny, unpredictable and altogether irrepressible.[Blau] reminds me of [Charles] Portis in a lot of ways . [S]he has a steady nerve, as well as a wicked imagination, and she takes her craft seriously. Top-notch comic writing." - Nick Hornby, The Believer "In The Wonder Bread Summer , Jessica Anya Blau sends us tumblin down a rabbit hole of youthful mistakes and heartache, alongside the unsinkable Allie Dodgson.
Coming of age has never been so wickedly thrilling." - Tania James, author of Aerogrammes and Other Stories " The Wonder Bread Summer is the best ever! It even made me a little jealous and that doesn''t happen often." - Madison Smartt Bell Blau''s madcap chase through 1980s L.A. is over-the-top and.a liberal dose of dark humor and an oddly heart-warming ending add to the twisted ride. - Publishers Weekly "Raunchy, poignant, and triumphant in turn--and sometimes manages to be all three at the same time." - Booklist "A fun read! Even before the buzzard hits the windshield, THE WONDER BREAD SUMMER will make you feel better about your worst summer vacation.
" - Christopher Moore, New York Times-bestselling author of Lamb and A Dirty Job "No one writes like Jessica Anya Blau. Funny, tender, and outrageous." - Michael Downs, author of The Greatest Show "Jessica Anya Blau has the gift of creating people we feel and know as familiar, nad then showing us how much we don''t know them at all. She writes bravely from under surfaces. Wonder Bread Summer takes on the journey of a young woman with a cocaine problem but, told with humor and depth, it gives us a story more about selfhood than drugs. The prose--simple and transparent--allows for empathy, and the recognition of ourselves in her character. A deeply disturbing yet playful book. The Wonder Bread Summer is a quite beautiful book written by an author who surely knows her craft.
" - Leora Skolkin-Smith, author of Hystera "Jessica Anya blau has the gift of creating people we feel and know as familiar, and then showing us how much we don''t know them at all." - Leora Skolkin-Smith, author of Hystera "This novel is addictive! I was hooked the moment straight-arrow Allie steals a bread bag full of blow.You won''t be able to look away." - Mary Kay Zuravelff, author of Man Alive! "Jessica Anya Blau''s The Wonder Bread Summer is a lightning strike of a novel, sexy and dangerous and aglow with adventure. Allie is a tenacious and deliciously complicated heroine, and it''s impossible to resist the ride she takes you on." - Laura van den Berg, author of What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us "This is as fast, fun, and outrageous a book as I''ve read in a long time. But beneath all the antics is a poignant story about racial identity, fathers and daughters, and coming of age in one totally messed-up decade." - Matthew Norman, author of Domestic Violets "Jessica Anya Blau returns with all the comedic powers of a master trickster.
" - Jessica Keener, author of the nationally-bestselling novel Night Swim "This novel is addictive! I was hooked the moment straight-arrow Allie steals a bread bag full of blow, and I flipped the pages faster than she could drive from one destination to another. How many wrongs make a right? The author poses that question as she sends Allie head-on into drug, family, and boy trouble. You won''t be able to look away." - Mary Kay Zuravleff, author of Man Alive "I think this book is laced with something! I swear I could not put it down. Jessica Anya Blau writes so well about a young woman in a dangerous place, and is often hilarious and lewd, and also sincere and moving, like the naughty Southern Californian soul mate of Nick Hornby." - Matthew Klam, author of Sam the Cat, and other stories "Often hilarious and lewd, and also sincere and moving, like the naughty Southern Californian soul mate of Nick Hornby." - Matthew Klam, author of Sam the Cat, and other stories "Blau has crafted a totally uniqu coming of age story, wrapped in a road trip, with a drug caper center. It''s a wild, exuberant novel, full of humor, heart, and a solid dose of bad behavior.
I loved it." - Paula Bomer, author of 9 Months "No one wirtes like Jessica Anya Blau. Funny, tender, and outrageous, The Wonder Bread Summer is more than a road trip through 1980s California. It''s a caper about race and sex, cocaine and rock n'' roll, with unforgettable characters who will say or do anything, and who find kindness in the most unexpected places." - Michael Downs, author of The Greatest Show.