Synopses & Reviews
A bold new novel about the intersection of art, love, fame, and money from the acclaimed author of
Dogeaters.
Jessica Hagedorn's edgy and entertaining new novel centers on the lives of two women who are neighbors in Manhattan's West Village. Mimi Smith is a filmmaker of low-budget slasher movies in search of new material. Her neighbor Eleanor Delacroix is a legendary writer of erotic fiction, now nearing eighty and addicted to cocaine and gin. Their personal and artistic lives begin to collide in unexpected ways as Eleanor grieves over the recent death of her live-in lover, the renowned painter Yvonne Wilder, and as Mimi deals with the challenges presented by her newly sober brother Carmelo; her drug-dealing boyfriend, who has mysteriously disappeared; and her wayward fourteen-year-old daughter, Violet. Looming over all these characters is the ghost of Agnes-an "illegal" and cousin of Mimi's who might have been murdered by her New Jersey employers. Toxicology is a dark yet playful exploration of money, desire, mortality, and the connection between creativity and self-destruction.
Review
"Highly entertaining...[Hagedorn] is an exceptional storyteller." The Boston Globe
Synopsis
Jessica Hagedorn's ferociously entertaining new novel centers on two women who are neighbors in Manhattan's West Village: Mimi Smith, a filmmaker whose only screen credit is a notorious low-budget slasher movie, and Eleanor Delacroix, a legendary, scandalous literary figure now nearing eighty. Their personal and artistic lives begin to converge in unexpected ways as Eleanor grieves over the death of her longtime lover, the renowned painter Yvonne Wilder, and as Mimi confronts the challenges presented by the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend, by her newly sober if still somewhat loopy brother, and by her wayward teenage daughter. Toxicology is a fearless, playful, and savagely funny novel about the collision of art, fame, money, love, desire, and mortality.
About the Author
Jessica Hagedorn, novelist, poet, and playwright, was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to America in her teens. Her books include the novels Dogeaters (a finalist for a National Book Award and the recipient of an American Book Award), The Gangster of Love, and Dream Jungle (a New York Times Notable Book), and Danger and Beauty, a collection of selected poetry and short fiction. She was the editor of the Asian American fiction anthology Charlie Chan Is Dead. She lives in New York City.