Stop Me If You've Heard This One

February 1, 2025
Cherry Hendricks--only her mom still calls her Cheryl--wants to be remembered for making people laugh. In her best moments, she's working gigs as Bunko, a rodeo clown who's terrified of horses. But most of the time she's working under Mister Manager at Aquarium Select III, driving around Orlando in her dead brother's Firebird, dating women from apps, hanging out with her friend Darcy, and feeling iced out by her mom, who does not support Cherry's clowning ambitions. Arnett's (With Teeth, 2021) third novel is an ambient squeeze of a story, with readers riding shotgun in Cherry's Firebird. It's also a clown story, and Arnett more than commits to the bit, with pratfalls, greasepaint application, and a worn-out ventriloquist's dummy named Velma all key to the plot. A love tangle among Cherry's mom; Cherry's new paramour, Margot the Magnificent (an older magician); and Margot's ex, Portia, ultimately forces Cherry to realize what she's missing and what she only thinks she is. A tender and funny novel about getting unstuck in making art and living life.

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March 1, 2025
A lesbian clown walks into a bar and tries to figure out her life. In Arnett's new novel, Cherry Hendricks, a 28-year-old part-time aquarium-store worker, wants nothing more than to be a full-time clown. Though her persona Bunko, a rodeo clown terrified of horses, is successful on the Orlando birthday-party circuit, she's broke because "going rates for clowns are at basement lows." In addition to her money issues, Cherry is struggling with complicated family dynamics and an increasingly messy love life (including a penchant for "sleeping with people's moms"). Five years ago, Cherry's outgoing, hilarious, and successful brother, Dwight, died unexpectedly. In his absence, the already strained relationship between Cherry and her mother, Nancy, who is also a lesbian, is made even worse. Cherry's life begins to change after a terrible first date with Margot--better known as Margot the Magnificent--who is nearly twice her age. One of Orlando's finest magicians, Margot finds herself at a strange career crossroads in the wake of her divorce from Portia, her wife and magician's assistant. Both Cherry and Margot see potential in each other--and begin a relationship that blurs the lines between personal and professional. As they become more closely enmeshed physically and artistically, Cherry must decide what kind of art she wants to make--and what she wants to be remembered for. During an eccentric sex scene near the beginning of the novel, Cherry says that "clowning is an excuse to make everyday life wildly, luxuriously absurd." Though the novel dips into the absurd, Arnett grounds the characters and relationships beautifully through her signature style of humor and heart. Her writing is particularly strong when exploring the ways we show up for ourselves and our communities--as well as the sacrifices we should and shouldn't make for our art. A funny and tender novel about life's best and worst punchlines.

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