PRAISE FOR CLOUD SIX
Our Culture, A Most Anticipated Book of Fall
Literary Hub, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year
"For a novel that explores the intricacies of death, grief, and violence, Cloud Six is both deft of foot and laugh-out-loud funny at every turn. Amy Fusselman has created a one-of-a-kind fantastical world where metaphor and the realities of modern life meet." —Michael Welch, Chicago Review of Books
"Heartfelt moments offer insight into death, the afterlife, grief, violence, life phases, nature, and family. Funny moments abound . . . Fusselman’s absurdist novel about the afterlife is perfect for fans of David Sedaris and TV’s The Good Place. It deserves a spot in every collection." —Library Journal (starred review)
"An original and comic novel about one of the most un-comic of topics: death itself . . . We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, we’ll wish we had a bunny as our guide through life too: Cloud Six is as divine and rambunctious as the heaven depicted in its pages." —Julia Hass, Literary Hub
"Hilariously absurd." —Booklist
"Stunning in its strangeness." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] laugh-out-loud novel . . . Readers will delight in every page." —Publishers Weekly
"I loved this book. Nothing is what you expect, but somehow it all makes perfect sense. Amy Fusselman is a great comic writer." —John Slattery, actor and director
“Leave it to Amy Fusselman to hold a cracked mirror to our world—neglected, mismanaged, unsteady, prone to random violence—and call it heaven. As absurd as it is tender, as hilarious as it is dreadful, Cloud Six is yet another sui generis work of brilliance from a writer at the height of her powers.” —Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth
"Cloud Six is where metaphors become real, the body falls away, and death is not. Is this a novel? Only if we all are." —Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else
PRAISE FOR THE MEANS
“A fast-paced and funny send-up.”
— PEOPLE
-“A plucky jaunt of a novel.”
— NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
-"With its deadpan absurdity, pithy prose and moral je ne sais quoi, Fusselman's latest will appeal to fans of Marcy Dermansky....With its satire of the particular hypocrisy of the Hamptons, including homeowners associations, graft, and garbage and recycling practices, Maria Semple....We may be entering a golden age of the comic novel, surely one of the best possible outcomes of this desperate moment in history."
— KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review)
“The Means is such a fast-paced, breezy comedic novel that you may find yourself surprised that Fusselman deftly and directly leads you to existential dilemmas and the absurdity of capitalism and striving for more.”
—THE MILLIONS
“Entertaining debut.”
—LIBRARY JOURNAL
“Fusselman (Idiophone, 2018) delivers a well-paced story with gentle humor, compassion, and a sparkling, original look at the absurdities of everyday life in a world filled with inequities, financial and otherwise.”
—BOOKLIST
PRAISE FOR IDIOPHONE
“[Fusselman] has transformed the traditional essay into something far wilder and more alive.”
—PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
“This small and beautiful book about feminism and motherhood and art is perfect for those of us who like thinking outside of the box when we’re looking for something lovely to read.”
—VULTURE
“At its essence, Idiophone is a hilarious, fast-paced, deliciously messy voyage into the thinking mind of a very smart person.”
—THE KENYON REVIEW
“Idiophone stands as Fusselman’s boldest reckoning yet.”
—LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS
“I read this in a single sitting. No one acrobats between beauty, confession, rueful humor, and deep insight with such amazing trapeze-y ease as Amy Fusselman.”
—John Hodgman, bestselling author of VACATIONLAND
PRAISE FOR SAVAGE PARK
“Fusselman’s mind is a playground in and of itself. [Her] prose has a spare, clean elegance that can carry a knife-like precision.”
—SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“Savage Park is a deeply felt and brilliant evocation of one of motherhood’s most pressing concerns: safety. In asking whether we can live fully–or parent successfully–when we’re governed by an unacknowledged fear of death, Fusselman jumps high above the tedious Mommy Wars, elevating crucial questions of parenting to a profound philosophical level. Here’s hoping more writer-mothers follow her lead.”
—Darcey Steinke, author of SISTER GOLDEN HAIR
“This brief, passionate book….never fails to engage.”
—Kate Tuttle, THE BOSTON GLOBE
“I yield to no one in my admiration for Amy Fusselman’s work. Her new book, Savage Park, further explores with astonishing power, eloquence, precision, and acid humor her obsessive, necessary theme: the gossamer-thin separation between life and death.”
—David Shields, author of REALITY HUNGER
PRAISE FOR 8
"It can be remarkably difficult to meditate on joy, especially when that joy is laces with serious ugliness an trauma; Amy Fusselman's 8 calmly and incisively takes on this important task. With admirable economy, 8 offers an expansive philosophy of the everyday which is both impatient with convention and rich with good heart."
—Maggie Nelson, author of THE ARGONAUTS
"A sweet, funny and scary book written by Holden Caulfield's older sister. 8 is a 10!"
—Danny Gregory, author of EVERYDAY MATTERS
"With both humor and horror Fusselman fixes an unsentimental eye on those mysteries that most often elude explanation."
—Samantha Hunt, author of THE SEAS
PRAISE FOR THE PHARMACIST’S MATE
'A memoir [that is] both endearingly eccentric and enduringly innovative.”
—ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“Fusselman’s conversational, intimate voice and heartfelt musings charm the reader. In less than 100 pages she movingly conjures an impressive emotional depth and range, making The Pharmacist’s Mate seem like a much longer work.”
—SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“This sweet, sincere story of Fusselman’s attempts to get pregnant by artificial insemination and to come to terms with her father’s death is told in a wholly original epigrammatic style.”
—VOGUE
"In this memorable, beautifully structured book, she gives us more than ironic asides or a catalog of her pop-culture… she makes the world strange again, a place where dying and making life are equally mysterious and miraculous activities."
—TIME OUT NEW YORK
“Ms. Fusselman’s book, brief as it is, affected me deeply. Not only that, the talent displayed therein was somewhat unnerving.”
—Zadie Smith, author
THE PHARMACIST’S MATE and 8 are also available in a two-for-one paperback edition from McSweeney’s
In the mid-90s I wrote, edited, illustrated, and published a ‘zine called bunnyrabbit, which was distributed internationally by Tower Books.
Copies are now in the collections of the University of Chicago Library, the library at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the archives at the University of Montana.
(photo by Todd Colby)