The Knockout Queen
Rufi Thorpe
"Full of verve... Revelatory." --Los Angeles TimesA dazzling and darkly comic novel of love, violence, and friendship in the California suburbs Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore--beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael--with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing--lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems. At six foot three, Bunny towers over their classmates. Even as she dreams of standing out and competing in the Olympics, she is desperate to fit in, to seem normal, and to get a boyfriend, all while hiding her father's escalating alcoholism. Michael has secrets of his own. At home and at school Michael pretends to be straight, but at night he tries to understand himself by meeting men online for anonymous encounters that both thrill and scare him. When Michael falls in love for the first time, a vicious strain of gossip circulates and a terrible, brutal act becomes the defining feature of both his and Bunny's futures--and of their friendship. With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Rufi Thorpe has created a tragic and unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection.Binding Type: HardcoverAuthor: Rufi ThorpePublisher: Knopf Publishing GroupPublished: 04/28/2020ISBN: 9780525656784Pages: 288Weight: 1.30lbsSize: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.30dReview Citations: Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2020 pg. 40Publishers Weekly 02/03/2020Library Journal 03/01/2020 pg. 86Booklist 03/15/2020 pg. 36
Book Title
The Knockout Queen
ISBN
9780525656784
"Full of verve... Revelatory." --Los Angeles Times
A dazzling and darkly comic novel of love, violence, and friendship in the California suburbs Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore--beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael--with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing--lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems. At six foot three, Bunny towers over their classmates. Even as she dreams of standing out and competing in the Olympics, she is desperate to fit in, to seem normal, and to get a boyfriend, all while hiding her father's escalating alcoholism. Michael has secrets of his own. At home and at school Michael pretends to be straight, but at night he tries to understand himself by meeting men online for anonymous encounters that both thrill and scare him. When Michael falls in love for the first time, a vicious strain of gossip circulates and a terrible, brutal act becomes the defining feature of both his and Bunny's futures--and of their friendship. With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Rufi Thorpe has created a tragic and unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Author: Rufi Thorpe
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 04/28/2020
ISBN: 9780525656784
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.30d
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2020 pg. 40
Publishers Weekly 02/03/2020
Library Journal 03/01/2020 pg. 86
Booklist 03/15/2020 pg. 36
A dazzling and darkly comic novel of love, violence, and friendship in the California suburbs Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore--beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael--with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing--lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems. At six foot three, Bunny towers over their classmates. Even as she dreams of standing out and competing in the Olympics, she is desperate to fit in, to seem normal, and to get a boyfriend, all while hiding her father's escalating alcoholism. Michael has secrets of his own. At home and at school Michael pretends to be straight, but at night he tries to understand himself by meeting men online for anonymous encounters that both thrill and scare him. When Michael falls in love for the first time, a vicious strain of gossip circulates and a terrible, brutal act becomes the defining feature of both his and Bunny's futures--and of their friendship. With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Rufi Thorpe has created a tragic and unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Author: Rufi Thorpe
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 04/28/2020
ISBN: 9780525656784
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.30d
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2020 pg. 40
Publishers Weekly 02/03/2020
Library Journal 03/01/2020 pg. 86
Booklist 03/15/2020 pg. 36
"Full of verve... Revelatory." --Los Angeles Times
A dazzling and darkly comic novel of love, violence, and friendship in the California suburbs Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore--beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael--with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing--lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems. At six foot three, Bunny towers over their classmates. Even as she dreams of standing out and competing in the Olympics, she is desperate to fit in, to seem normal, and to get a boyfriend, all while hiding her father's escalating alcoholism. Michael has secrets of his own. At home and at school Michael pretends to be straight, but at night he tries to understand himself by meeting men online for anonymous encounters that both thrill and scare him. When Michael falls in love for the first time, a vicious strain of gossip circulates and a terrible, brutal act becomes the defining feature of both his and Bunny's futures--and of their friendship. With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Rufi Thorpe has created a tragic and unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Author: Rufi Thorpe
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 04/28/2020
ISBN: 9780525656784
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.30d
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2020 pg. 40
Publishers Weekly 02/03/2020
Library Journal 03/01/2020 pg. 86
Booklist 03/15/2020 pg. 36
A dazzling and darkly comic novel of love, violence, and friendship in the California suburbs Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore--beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael--with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing--lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems. At six foot three, Bunny towers over their classmates. Even as she dreams of standing out and competing in the Olympics, she is desperate to fit in, to seem normal, and to get a boyfriend, all while hiding her father's escalating alcoholism. Michael has secrets of his own. At home and at school Michael pretends to be straight, but at night he tries to understand himself by meeting men online for anonymous encounters that both thrill and scare him. When Michael falls in love for the first time, a vicious strain of gossip circulates and a terrible, brutal act becomes the defining feature of both his and Bunny's futures--and of their friendship. With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Rufi Thorpe has created a tragic and unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Author: Rufi Thorpe
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 04/28/2020
ISBN: 9780525656784
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.30d
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2020 pg. 40
Publishers Weekly 02/03/2020
Library Journal 03/01/2020 pg. 86
Booklist 03/15/2020 pg. 36