Synopses & Reviews
"Craving whatever she hasn't got and detesting whatever she has, Zoe Pilger's brilliant and psychically bulimic narrator is everyone's anti-Bridget Jones. An awareness of the pathology of romantic love, and a terror of what lies in its absence, lies at the heart of this brutally funny book."—Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick
"Protagonist Ann-Marie wanders through London's glittery underground of Bright Young Artists, concussed by life itself. Pilger's love story fictionalizes her contexts so extremely that every adolescent romance—with art, feminism, even that gross dude she had a one night stand with—is only a deceptive form mobilized to assault neutered authority. A masochistic siren song—100 percent more awesome than The Little Mermaid."—Trisha Low, author of The Compleat Purge
Half-liberated, half-drunk, Anne-Marie is twenty-three, spiraling, and ironically detached when she meets Stephanie, a supremely serious, second wave feminist who becomes her mentor. Hilarious and unapologetic, this novel is a satirical look at the state of the post-post-feminist world and illuminates how—no matter what young women do—they are condemned for their sexual desires, career choices, and everyday philosophies.
Zoe Pilger is an art critic for the Independent, winner of the 2011 Frieze International Writers Prize, currently working on her PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London. Eat My Heart Out is her first novel, and was published in the United Kingdom by Serpent's Tail to wide acclaim.
Review
"With this electric romp of a novel, Pilger turns a neon light on to the intersection of romantic love and feminism."
Publishers Weekly
"Craving whatever she hasn't got and detesting whatever she has, Zoe Pilger's brilliant and psychically bulimic narrator is everyone's anti-Bridget Jones. An awareness of the pathology of romantic love, and a terror of what lies in its absence, lies at the heart of this brutally funny book."
Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick
"Protagonist Ann-Marie wanders through London's glittery underground of Bright Young Artists, concussed by life itself. Pilger's love story fictionalizes her contexts so extremely that every adolescent romance--with art, feminism, even that gross dude she had a one night stand with--is only a deceptive form mobilized to assault neutered authority. A masochistic siren song--100 percent more awesome than The Little Mermaid."
Trisha Low, author of The Compleat Purge
"Super-smart, funny and dark as midnight."
Marie Claire
"An unflinching account of post-feminist urban life. Satirical, snarky and wildly entertaining."
Observer
"Brilliantly odd, very funny."
Financial Times
"Perfectly pitched satire."
New Statesman
Synopsis
"A foul-mouthed Nancy Mitford for the Gawker generation."
Synopsis
At twenty-three, Ann-Marie is single, broke, and furious, and convinced that lovesweet love is the answer to all of her problems. Then she meets legendary second wave feminist Stephanie Haight, who becomes obsessed with the idea that she can save Ann-Marie and her entire generation. From Little Mermaid-themed warehouse parties and ritual worship ceremonies summoning ancient goddesses to disastrous one-night stands with strikingly unsuitable men, Ann-Marie hurtles through London and life. Fiercely clever and unapologetically wild, Eat My Heart Out is the satire for our narcissistic, hedonistic, post-postfeminist era."
About the Author
Zoe Pilger is an art critic for
The Independent and winner of the 2011 Frieze International Writers Prize. She has appeared on BBC Newsnight's
The Review Show, Channel Four's
Sunday Brunch, and Sky News.
Eat My Heart Out is her first novel. It was published in the UK by Serpent's Tail to wide acclaim, garnering positive reviews from publications such as
Marie Claire,
The Daily Mail, the
Financial Times, and the
New Statesman.
Zoe is currently researching a PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she has taught social and political theory. Zoe graduated with a BA from Cambridge University in 2007 and an MA from Goldsmiths in 2010.