The Writing Class

Jincy Willett is a writer and editor. She is the author of Jenny and the Jaws of Life and Winner of the National Book Award. She lives in San Diego, California.

Amy Gallup is gifted, perhaps too gifted for her own good. Published at only twenty-two, she peaked early and found critical but not commercial success. Now her former life is gone, along with her writing career and beloved husband. A reclusive widow, her sole companion a dour, flatulent basset hound who barely tolerates her, her daily mantra Kill Me Now, she is a loner afraid to be alone. Her only bright spot each week is the writing class that she teaches at the university extension.

This semesters class is full of the usual suspects: the doctor who wants to be the next Robin Cook, the overly enthusiastic repeat student, the slacker, the unassuming student with the hidden talent, the prankster, the know-it-all . . . Amys seen them all before. But something is very different about this class—and the clues begin with a scary phone call in the middle of the night and obscene threats instead of peer evaluations on student writing assignments. Amy soon realizes that one of her students is a very sick puppy, and when a member of the class is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect. As she dissects each students writing for clues, Amy must enlist the help of everyone in her class, including the murderer, to find the killer among them.

Suspenseful, extremely witty, brilliantly written, unexpectedly hilarious, and a joy from start to finish, The Writing Class is a one-of-a-kind novel that rivals Jincy Willetts previous masterpieces.

“The funniest novel I have read, possibly ever. Brilliant, totally original, and worthy of its title. I promise you will laugh constantly and to the point of stomach damage.”—Augusten Burroughs, bestselling author of Running with Scissors and Dry

“Audaciously titled, cleverly constructed, Winner of the National Book Award is an elegy wrapped inside a satire, a sorrowful meditation on the mysteries of sibling love and rivalry concealed within a bitterly funny chronicle of literary buffoonery. Jincy Willett is a fearless writer, capable of startling the reader into rueful laughter at every turn.”—Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of Little Children

“How rarely the knacks for wisdom and for cracking wise come in one single, satisfying package. So: hurrah for Jincy Willett, and for her funny, charming, humane, and altogether well-wrought piece of fiction.”—Kurt Andersen, author of Heydey

“As audacious as its title, weird and universal and touching and hilarious all at once.”—Anna Quindlen, bestselling author of Rise and Shine

“The author mows down worlds of artistic and psychological twaddle with killer sprays of language. Willett is effortlessly, furiously funny.”—Entertainment Weekly

"Can a class of wannabe novelists solve a murder in their midst? That's the premise of this dark comedy of the absurd from Willett, a boisterous satire of pseudointellectuals, impotent writers and the adult extension programs of public universities. The only things Amy Gallup, a once-noted California author, has published in years are blurbs of other writers' work. Amy's only income comes from teaching fiction writing to a motley collection of varyingly talented 'prepublished' adults. Someone in the class is making threatening phone calls and sending extremely cruel notes to other students. When two of the students are murdered, a deep sense of danger takes hold. Yet the class goes on. Amy's lectures actually constitute a damn fine guide to writing fiction, while Willett's prose has sparkling moments. The tension is so strong that readers can hardly resist the temptation to peek ahead and see which student is the killer."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Amy Gallup was a promising writer once--published and highly praised at twenty-two. It was all downhill from there, and now, year in and year out, she teaches a writing workshop at the local university extension. And this semester begins just the same as the others. But then there's a threatening phone call, followed by obscene threats worked into the student's peer evaluations. Then a murder--and every one of the students is a suspect. The clues are hidden in their writing, and she (and we) can solve the murder only by looking more closely at each writer's attempts at fiction. Hilarious, vicious, and elegantly written, The Writing Class examines the desperation, perversion, and mania of the writing life through an unforgettable mystery story.

Jincy Willett is a writer and editor. She is the author of Jenny and the Jaws of Life and Winner of the National Book Award. She lives in San Diego, California. You can visit her Web site at www.jincywillett.com.