#45 Author Connection*: Alison Espach

365 Blog Challenge: Post #45

* Author Connection was formerly known as Authors that I Know and Love...but I felt that was a bit too intimate for the level at which I know these authors, hence it has been changed to Author Connection.

Alright, I'll confess.  I have been taking a creative writing class through Gotham Writers' Workshop for the last month and it's been awesome.  Such a good way to open up some of that creativity that has been blocked off by too much scientific knowledge.  I didn't necessarily want to share this with all my blog readers because I don't want too many expectations to come out of this class!  But in order to brag about my next author connection, you must know that information.

The teacher of my Creative Writing 101 class (Yes, that's really what it's called) is Alison Espach.  She's a young (only 26!), funny, MFA grad from Washington University in St. Louis and during our 6 week class, her first novel has come out!  The book, The Adults: A Novel, is about a teenage girl coming of age in an affluent suburban neighborhood.  I haven't read the book, but I have read this excerpt from The Nervous Breakdown, and I can only describe the writing as hilariously honest, more honest than I think many people can be with themselves.  The book has gotten excellent reviews from important places:

Publisher's Weekly calls it a "charming, coming-of-age debut".

The Wall Street Journal reviewer claims it's an "outstanding coming-of-age novel...one of the funniest books I've read in a long time.  Ms. Espach's coup is to chart Emily's growth through her maturing sense of humor."

People magazine say it's a "smart first novel".

Smart and funny?  My favorite stuff. I promise to write a full review after I've read the book, though my to-read list is quite daunting right now.  Check out the excerpt above as well as Alison's self-interview on The Nervous Breakdown here.  And then you can be jealous of me because she was kind enough to sign my copy. :)