Bring the House Down
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- $279.00
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- $279.00
Descripción editorial
'Punchily provocative and often bitingly funny' THE TIMES, Book of the Month
‘Binge-worthy, real, really funny’ KILEY REID
‘Spiky, smart and so original’ CLAIRE DAVERLEY
'Entertaining and very timely… One of the most enjoyable novels I’ve read in a long time' GUARDIAN
'Unputdownable' DAILY MAIL
A ONE WOMAN SHOW
A ONE NIGHT STAND
A ONE STAR REVIEW
Theatre critic Alex Lyons made his name from his brutal, brilliant reviews.
So when he sees Hayley Sinclair's dismal one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe, he thinks nothing of dashing off another of his trademark one-star pans for the newspaper. He also thinks nothing of taking her home after the performance, failing at any point to mention who he is.
What he doesn't expect is for Hayley to revamp her show into a review of Alex's entire life, exposing what an awful person he really is. Worse, the show is a smash hit, and Alex is about to become national news. But can Hayley bring the establishment down without taking herself with it?
Funny and thrilling, Bring the House Down gives you a front row seat to the downfall of the people who tell us what to think. It's about art, performance, female rage, and how while revenge may be sweet, it can also be perilous.
'An enticing debut. This is a binge-worthy novel that explores our obsessions, our inner critic, and who we think we are in person and in print. Intimate, real, and really funny. This one has teeth' KILEY REID
'Sharp, shrewd and witty… a stunning debut, one that I’m sure will be binge-read by many' INDEPENDENT, Book of the Month
'Dark, obsessive and razor-sharp, this is your next Baby Reindeer fix’ ELLE
About the author
Charlotte Runcie has spent much of her career reviewing shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for various magazines and national newspapers. She has a secret past as a poet, having been a Foyle Young Poet of the Year with a pamphlet published by tall-lighthouse. Her memoir Salt On Your Tongue was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and named a Book of the Year in the Spectator, The Scotsman and Prospect. She lives in South Wales.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The clever U.S. debut from British journalist Runcie explores a messy situation involving a performer and her critic during the Edinburgh Fringe arts festival. Alex Lyon, a senior editor at a London newspaper, writes a scathing anonymous review of Haley Sinclair's one-woman show, Climate Emergence–She. Later that night, Alex meets Haley randomly at a pub and they sleep together—without her knowing about his takedown, which will be published in the morning. When junior writer Sophie Rigden, a friend of Alex's, accidentally outs him as the author of the hit piece, an enraged Haley changes her entire show into a statement about Alex's behavior. As the Fringe Festival wears on, The Alex Lyons Experience gains more followers and momentum, with people coming forward to share the terrible things Alex has done, from being rude to his coworkers to sleeping with his best friend's sister. Sophie stands by Alex as the conflict escalates while dealing with her own difficulties as a new mother, her grief over her mother's recent death, and her husband's infidelity, which leads her to make some questionable decisions of her own. Throughout, Runcie takes a thought-provoking look at art's complex relationship with criticism and public outrage. This dramedy packs a punch.
