Zevin is the author of two award-winning young adult novels, ELSEWHERE and MEMOIRS OF A TEENAGE AMNESIAC. She is also the author of MARGARETTOWN, a novel. Her books books have been lauded everywhere from coast to coast by reviewers, and her work has been translated into 18 languages. She is also a filmmaker, and lives in New York City.
"Equal parts sharply funny and sobering, Zevin's portrait of a
family in financial free fall captures the zeitgeist."--People
"Every day newspaper articles chronicle families battered by the
recession, circling the drain in unemployment and debt or scraping
by with minimum-wage jobs. But no novel has truly captured that
struggle until now. . . . [Zevin's characerts]--flawed, devoted,
cranky, impetuous, utterly relatable--come blazingly alive . . .
[in this chronicle of] how a once-loving family reacts when times
get bad."--Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly (A-) "In the
provocative novel The Hole We're In . . . Gabrielle Zevin follows
the Pomeroy [family] from 1998 to 2022 and addresses such issues as
abortion, racism, and the emotional fallout of a stress-filled
economy. Yet somehow the novel feels generous: We identify with the
Pomeroys' troubles while we gasp at their casual brutality and
marvel at [youngest daughter] Patsy, who journeys from oppressive
Bible schools to military service in Iraq and, finally, to becoming
a more loving mother than her own could have dreamed of being."--O,
The Oprah Magazine "The Hole We're In criticizes our rabid consumer
culture, as well as the people who've bought into it without
examining the actual or hidden costs. . . . Zevin's writing is
often surprisingly, if darkly, funny, thanks to her wry and astute
cultural observations. . . . [Main character] Patsy is flawed like
the rest of her family, but she also has complex thoughts and tries
to live without hypocrisy . . . Zevin breathes real life into this
tough-girl vet, a heroine for our times, recognizable from life but
new to fiction."--Malena Watrous, The New York Times Book Review
"It's hard to pinpoint exactly what is so compelling about
Gabrielle Zevin's new novel. Merely summarizing the plot doesn't do
the book justice--it's far more gripping than you'd expect from a
family drama about the consequences of falling deeper and deeper
into credit card debt. The real force of the novel, aside from
Zevin's elegant, no-words-wasted prose, comes from her complicated,
multifaceted characters, who have an astonishing capacity for
extremes of both generous and selfish behavior."--Bookpage "The
Hole We're In is a story of financial lives, and it makes plain
that the financial life of a family is just as important as, if not
more important than, its religious life. Even more surprising: It's
just as compelling as a novel that is primarily concerned with the
emotional life of an American family. The Hole We're In feels
current, like fresh journalism, a mirror held to modern
times."--Paul Constant, The Stranger "A sharp, funny, and timely
look at a debt-ridden, God-fearing American family. . . . Zevin
skewers a host of social issues from religious zealotry to the
consequences of war to the entitlement mind-set of average
Americans. What makes her book more than just a satire, though, is
the deft way she thoroughly humanizes her characters. Readers will
relate to and be moved by a beleaguered family's attempts to climb
out of debt and dysfunction."--Booklist "Blazing . . . Sharp . . .
The Corrections for our recessionary times. . . . [Zevin]
establishes herself as an astute chronicler of the way we spend
now."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "An unforgettable novel
about flawed characters desperate to get back to the garden of an
idealized American Eden--where debts are forgiven, family secrets
remain buried, everyone gets a good credit rating and a higher
education, and spiritual redemption can be achieved with a new coat
of paint."--Stephanie Kallos, author of Broken For You and Sing
Them Home "Gabrielle Zevin's sentences burst like fireworks off the
page. Smart, sassy, and wise, The Hole We're In is a delightful
treat."--Amanda Eyre Ward, author of How To Be Lost and Love
Stories in this Town "An unflinching depiction of an All-American
family. Hypocritical, debt-ridden, God-fearing--there might not be
much to admire about Zevin's characters, but there is much to love
about them. The Hole We're In is a compelling read, and a true and
honest novel."--Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route
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