Praise for Motherlunge

Funny and smart…in Thea and those around her Scott has created characters we believe in and wish well, characters who feel real—strange and sad and happy, like real people are.

—Publishers Weekly (starred review, “Pick of the Week”)

Impressive… Scott renders wonderfully offbeat characters in crisp, polished prose.

—Booklist (starred review)

With witty candor and an edgy, rambunctious voice, Motherlunge has the low-key hallmark of an indie comedy…[yet] at times soars to an almost Nabokovian expressiveness. Laugh-out-loud funny, tempered with sorrowful undertones…. An impressive debut and astonishingly engrossing.

—Michael Peck, The Missoula Independent

Told with dazzling prose, Motherlunge is a wry, luminous exploration of the legacy of motherhood—here, about the afflictions that may cycle through generations. This is a thoroughly engaging novel, with wonderful turns of phrase in every sentence, and its witty humor announces a welcome new voice in American fiction, full of charm and tender wisdom.

—Don Lee, author of The Collective

Voice is where Kirstin Scott astonishes, both in the gutsy yet precise and lyrical voice of her narrator Thea, and in the brilliantly realized voices that Scott bestows on the rest of Thea’s family. We believe in these characters and even believe
 that some good—some human equivalent of that ribald, generous and knowing
voice—will come out of all this.

—Jaimy Gordon, winner of the National Book Award for Lord of Misrule

An immensely satisfying read. Scott has a particular talent for bleak humor…[and] writes in a way that seems intuitive, honest, and full of love. MOTHERLUNGE is an excellent examination of anxiety over expectation, over inevitability…. Do seek out this book.

—Sara Habein, Gently Read Literature

Scott’s writing, so detailed and precise while maintaining a luminous elegance…is also funny, heartbreaking, and generous to its subjects. Literary fiction [that is] so enjoyable, so easy, and yet so provocative that when you read it you’ll understand why Scott has won awards for Motherlunge.

—Catherine Weller, Weller Book Works

So surprisingly joyous is Motherlunge’s writing, and so careful and precise, too—it’s full of the kind of perception that stays the reader’s eye, that startles and delights. Motherlunge is an example of what important fiction does, allows us the experience of extremity within the arms of reason and hope.

—Michelle Latiolais, author of A Proper Knowledge and Widow

Winsome, deft, and magical . . . everything about Motherlunge is unpredictable in the best possible way. When I finished, I turned back to page one and read the book again.

—Debra Monroe, author of On the Outskirts of Normal and The Source of Trouble

Brilliant…deeply satisfying. Motherlunge is a full-frontal assault on every dappled, dimpled and doily-enhanced image we’ve had of both women and mothers.

—David Pace, 15 Bytes

Motherlunge is one of the smartest amusement-park rides I’ve ever ridden.

—David Kranes, author of Making the Ghost Dance

Interviews:

Q: Were any of your friends or family sometimes put off by the book’s frank and honest discussion of sexual matters or themes?

A: Among my family and friends, it probably fails to shock.

—interviewed by Ben Fulton for the Salt Lake Tribune

Q: How did winning the prize change your life? Did it open any doors? Did it help you find an agent?

A: The prize gave me readers.

—interviewed by Alan Rinzler for The Book Deal