Summary

A USA Today Notable Book for May 2014

A New York Times Editor’s Choice

Anna Brundage is a rock star. She is tall and sexy, with a powerhouse voice and an unforgettable mane of red hair. She came out of nowhere, an immediate indie sensation. And then, life happened.

Anna went down as fast as she went up and then walked off the scene for seven years. Without a record deal or clamoring fans, she sells a piece of her famous father's art to finance just one more album and a European comeback tour.

Anna is forty-four. This may be her last chance to cement her place in the life she chose, the life she struggled for, the life she's not sure she can sustain. She falls back easily into the ways of the road—sex with strangers, the search for the perfect moment onstage. To see Anna perform is something—watch her find the note, the electric connection with the audience, the transcendence when it all comes together and the music seems to fill the world.

A riveting look at the life of a musician, Wonderland is a moving inquiry into the life of a woman on an unconventional path, wondering what happens next and what her passions might have cost her, seeking a version of herself she might recognize. It takes us deep into a world many of us have spent hours imagining and wishing ourselves into. Now we have a bit of that wish come true.

Editorial Reviews

“Wonderland is a witty and unflinching novel about life, love, art, and sound checks. A deep howl and a bittersweet song, this is D’Erasmo’s best yet.” —Sam Lipsyte, New York Times bestselling author

“D’Erasmo’s prose is lyrical and alive—this is a vital, powerful novel—and Wonderland will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever dreamed of getting a second chance.” —Elliott Holt, Pushcart Prize–winning author

“A story of second chances, D’Erasmo has meticulously crafted a work that…constantly builds, yet often feels incredibly casual. Days and shows pass, but within this routine, a transformation slowly creeps into the narrative: that of commitment, and, perhaps, hope for the future.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“D’Erasmo avoids clichés in this rhapsodic portrait of a rock-and-roll diva like a champion slalom skier racing downhill without touching a single pole…Close to excruciatingly observant, often lonely, sharply funny, and prone to problematic love, Anna is an irresistible narrator. D’Erasmo brings us inside the music and the musician’s psyche in this transfixing song of a self evolving through discovery, loss, and renewal.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Narrator Xe Sands’ whispery soft voice is a good match for this introspective novel about Anna Brundage…Sands’ performance adds to the surreal quality of life on the road, and she’s especially good at handling the numerous sexual encounters…Sands’ narration is near flawless.” —AudioFile

“D’Erasmo’s fourth novel tells the story of fictional musician Anna Brundage. Anna is in her mid-40s and touring Europe for what may be the last time, promoting an album recorded on her own dime after a seven-year hiatus…The tour gives Anna a chance to reflect on her career and childhood, which was itself a sort of world tour with her artist parents. These vivid recollections create a kaleidoscope of magical experiences and colors, from the black water of the Baltic Sea at night to Anna’s wild red hair.” —Library Journal

“An aging rock singer heads to Europe for one more attempt to reckon with her music, her father, and an old flame…A better-than-average rock novel that thoughtfully addresses aging, art and relationships.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The world of Wonderland is authentic, vibrant, and genuine. Stacey D’Erasmo explores the delight and terror of second chances. A great read!” —Michael Stipe, former lead vocalist for REM

“Briskly addictive…Some sentences dance like wind chimes in a hurricane; others evanesce…D’Erasmo expertly conjures the seductive uncharted space that lures the sculptor, the musician.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

“D’Erasmo’s writing exhibits a life-and-death intimacy that grabs at us.” —USA Today

“Her story reads like an unusually lucid travel journal...In Brundage, D’Erasmo has created a wry, questioning, sensual artist.” —New Yorker

“Stacey D’Erasmo’s most impressive accomplishment in her fourth novel, Wonderland, is to write about music well…Implicitly, the lesson for Anna is that artistic vitality should never be taken for granted, must be seized while still within reach...D’Erasmo is a gifted and skillful writer.” —New York Times Book Review

“Stacey D’Erasmo’s exquisite Wonderland...succeeds, not through bombast but with beautifully measured, understated writing and meticulous characterization...Wonderland is a distillation of what it means to be a working artist in the early twenty-first century and also of what it means to grow up in the shadow of a great artist…Wonderland is a striking evocation of the artist’s quest.” —Los Angeles Times

“Heartbreakingly intense…[a] dramatically satisfying, philosophically complex novel.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Dreamy...[with] finely tuned prose…Given the book’s sensual imagery and magnetic heroine, it’s hard not to wonder what Anna would sound like—I pegged her as some combination of Björk, Florence and the Machine, and Janis Joplin.” —Mother Jones

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Author Bio: Stacey D'Erasmo

Stacey D’Erasmo, a recipient of Guggenheim and Stegner Fellowships, is the author of several novels and the nonfiction work The Art of Intimacy. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, Bookforum, and Ploughshares, among others. She teaches in Columbia University’s MFA program.

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Details

Format:	Retail CD	Format:	MP3 CD
Available Formats :	Retail CD, MP3 CD
Category:	Fiction/Literary
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing	Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
CDs:	7	CDs:	1
Runtime:	7.88
ISBN:	9781482987676	ISBN:	9781482987669
Audience:	Adult
Language:	English

Wonderland

Summary

Summary

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Reviews