Pretty Little Dirty
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A dazzling, racy, and exuberant debut--Amanda Boyden tells the story of two Midwestern girls of privilege in the late 70s and early 80s and their shared plunge from innocence.
"Pretty Little Dirty takes a classic coming-of-age tale and turns it inside out, then gives it a few kicks in the head for good measure. Funny, sexy, inventively told, and scary as hell—a gutsy debut."–Dani Shapiro, author of Family History
Lisa sees the life of her gorgeous best friend Celeste as just about perfect: she has a gigantic house, two older sisters to coach her through the hazards of high school, and loving, lively parents. As Lisa's own home has long been a place devoid of joyful noise—her mother has shut herself off in her bedroom for years—Lisa joins the Diamond household, slipping into their routine of sit-down suppers and soaking in the delicious normalcy of Diamond family life. But what begins as the story of two young women living a charmed adolescence, one of mastering dance moves and the protocols of male-female interaction, soon swirls into an intoxicating novel of art, music, and self-destructive impulses as Lisa and Celeste dare each other ever onward.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Girlhood friends bolt from their innocence with a mixture of eagerness, ignorance and regret in this winning coming-of-age saga, told with candor and aptitude. In 1976, Lisa and Celeste move, from Chicago and New York respectively, to Kansas City, Mo., and enter sixth grade. Celeste is a blinding beauty; Lisa, who narrates, jumps readily into the welcome of Celeste's picture-perfect family, eager to efface her own dark home life. The girls mark every milestone together, from wilderness camp and first kisses to dances, drinks and loss of virginity. By the middle of high school, boys, and the real power a girl might wield over them, spawn ravenous sexual appetites in both. Their search for new summer conquests leads them to the edgy world of older art school students and '80s punk rock, each experiment with sex and drugs opening a new door onto another. Celeste and Lisa turn down paths marked by danger signs visible from a great distance, yet Lisa's voice is absolutely immediate. Shocking in its casual erotic frankness and enlightening in its drawing of shallow relationships, this novel gets the complexity of childhood friendships dead right, as well as their importance in shaping who one becomes.
