Anita de Monte Laughs Last: A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

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A TIME MUST-READ FOR 2024

THE REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK FOR MARCH 2024

I have goosebumps just talking about this story REESE WITHERSPOON
Smart, funny and furious MARIE CLAIRE
Genre-busting ... A clear-eyed deconstruction of skewed value systems FINANCIAL TIMES

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Who gets to leave a legacy

1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isnt. By 1998 Anitas name has been all but forgotten certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by progeny of film producers, C-Suite executives, and international art-dealers, most of whom float through life knowing that their futures are secured, Raquel feels herself an outsider. Students of colour, like Raquel, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret.

But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anitas story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist.

Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.

A NEW YORK TIMES, ELLE AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING HIGHLIGHT FOR 2024

'Writing with urgency and rage, Gonzalez speaks up for those who have been othered and deemed unworthy, robbed of their legacy'
Washington Post

'Rollicking, melodic, tender and true. And oh so very wise'
Robert Jones, Jr., author of The Prophets

Reviews

Set across dual timelines in which both so much and so little has changed, this is a smart, funny and furious shout out to agency, ownership and the female creative spirit in the face of art world hierarchies, hypocrisies and isms * Marie Claire *
Halfway through the novel she upends things, turning a narrative about race relations into a ghost story ... It is this kind of genre-busting that distinguishes her writing ... Gonzalez crosshatches her characters with flaws and redeeming aspects ... Gonzalez is similarly nuanced in her clear-eyed deconstructions of skewed value systems * Financial Times *
Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a cry for justice. Writing with urgency and rage, Gonzalez speaks up for those who have been othered and deemed unworthy, robbed of their legacy * Washington Post *
There is an innate rage and melody in the prose, which is beautifully written * Glamour *
A passionate and piercing examination of power in elite art circles * Sydney Morning Herald *
Gonzalezs sophomore outing deserves a mouse on her doorstep in gratitude ... This is a brutal but ultimately heartwarming and certainly thought-provoking novel of Latinx magic, family, and feminine power * Booklist (starred review) *
Gonzalez shrewdly anatomizes racial and class hierarchies ... Gonzalez, herself a Brown graduate, brilliantly captures the daily slights endured by someone perceived as Other, from microaggressions to brutally racist behavior ... An uncompromising message, delivered via a gripping story with two engaging heroines * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *
Part campus novel, part ghost story, Xochitl Gonzalezs second novel, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, fearlessly takes on racism and misogyny in the rarefied world of fine art and art history ... Though told with humour and a light touch, Gonzalez doesnt shy away from serious issues: the erasure of women from the art history canon and the racism often faced by first generation students of colour at Ivy League colleges ... Anita de Monte Laughs Last boldly questions the choices behind what we are taught and demands that the complete story be disclosed * BookPage (starred review) *
Funny, piercing, and full of moxie ... What Xochitl Gonzalez has written is an affirmation for anyone who's ever had to 'work twice as hard to get half as much.' Anita de Monte Laughs Last is rollicking, melodic, tender, and true. And oh so very wise -- Robert Jones, Jr., author of THE PROPHETS, a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction
Bravo! A remarkable story about reclaiming what has been erased. Reader, enjoy! -- Ana Castillo, author of SO FAR FROM GOD
I might have actually gasped when I read the news that Anita De Monte Laughs Last would be published in 2024. Gonzalez has that particular penchant for navigating perspectives in a voice thats at once delightfully humorous and sobering. Anita demonstrates that penchant from its earliest sentences, flowing right into the New York City art world of the 80s and 90s with enviable ease * Elle *
Unflinching and thought-provoking * People *

Author Bio

Xochitl Gonzalez is the New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming. Named a Best of 2022 by the New York Times, TIME, Kirkus, Washington Post and NPR, Olga Dies Dreaming was the winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Fiction and the New York City Book Award. Gonzalez is a 2021 MFA graduate from the Iowa Writers Workshop. Her nonfiction work has been published in Elle Decor, Allure, Vogue, Real Simple and The Cut. Her commentary writing for the Atlantic was recognised as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. A native Brooklynite and proud public school graduate, Gonzalez holds a BA from Brown University and lives in her hometown of Brooklyn with her dog, Hectah Lavoe.