Clickbait: A Novel

(Paperback)

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With the dark comedy and sharp observations of Monica Heisey and Dolly Alderton, a whip-smart and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel about a disgraced, newly divorced journalist demoted to a clickbait job at a Manhattan tabloid.

The first thing they tell you when you begin your training is never to become the news.

Natasha has screwed up royally. Her mistake isnt just embarrassing, it's a breach of journalistic ethics that makes headlines and costs her a plum job reporting from London. Back in New York at thirty-five and single, divorced from a kind man she loved, she finds herself at the bottom of the media food chaina junior reporter at a clickbait factory, rewriting sensational tabloid stories to make them just different enough to avoid lawsuits.

As if her professional fall from grace werent bad enough, shes taken the money shed saved for a down payment for a home on a charming Brooklyn block with her husband, and rashly bought a boxy apartment overlooking the gray ocean in Rockaway Beach, Queens.

Though seeing friends and family only serves to remind her of what shes lost, things begin to pick up when her ex-boyfriend Zach moves back to New York and accepts her offer of a spare bedroom. The arrangement is strictly platonic, of coursefor him. But Natasha can't help but wonderwhether he might be the solution to all herproblems.

As Natasha's obsession with Zach grows and her involvement in increasinglydystopian "churnalism" deepens, her worlds threaten to collide in the most cataclysmic, extremely public way.

Reviews

"Like yelling at the movie screen, 'DONT OPEN THAT DOOR,' you will yell at Clickbaits fabulously flawed, smart, and entertaining Natasha as she bungles and fumbles her way through a skyrocketing and hell-plunging time in her life. This book is impossible to put downyou cant help but root for Natasha who manages to humiliate herself from England to Rockaway and beyond." Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane In this razor-sharp, darkly humorous novel, Holly Baxter draws a no-holds-barred portrait of a woman whose actions have caused her life to collapse at her feetand charts her misguided attempts to climb out of the rubble. I laughed. I cringed. I couldnt stop reading. Clmence Michallon, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant A dazzling and hilarious debut novel about work, love, passion and publishing. Think Bridget Jones meets Fleabag at a Manhattan tabloid. Susan Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Unhooked and Five Men Who Broke My Heart Clickbait made me wince and made me howl. With a biting humor and a flair for the outrageous that is entirely her own, Holly Baxter has created an antiheroine for our times. A darkly hilarious debut that satirically captures our morally vapid media world with more accuracy than I ever thought possible. I loved it. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett "This satire of media and publishing may hit a little too close to home for anyone who works in journalism--but you should definitely give this dark comedy a try either way. Baxter captures just the right blend of cringe and humor, and you won't want to look away from this train wreck." Katie Couric Media "Baxter's debut is a portrait of a misanthropic yet wry thirtysomething in vain trying to fix her life...She's living in a tumultuous world of her own making, and she'll have to change if she ever wants a life she can be proud of. Recommend to readers of She's a Killer, and anyone who enjoys stories of adults refusing to grow up. Booklist

Author Bio

Holly Baxter is an executive editor and staff writer at the Independent in New York. She has experience in generating clicks on both sides of the Atlantic, having worked in the Independents London office as a reporter for three years. Her work was shortlisted for a Press Award for Feature of the Year in 2019 and she often appears on British radio and television. Baxter lives in Brooklyn, New York.