Praise for Talk to Me
Entertainment Weekly, New & Notable
New York Post, Best Book of the Week
One of Southern Living‘s Best New Books of Winter 2019
“A widely respected network TV anchor falls from grace when a vicious tirade is caught on camera, leaving him to revive his professional reputation—and sense of purpose.”—Entertainment Weekly
“With a publicly decimated career and a neglected family in his wake, ex-TV anchor Ted Grayson finds himself taking a hard look at the life he’s led and the ways in which he can build a better life in this perceptive new book by John Kenney.”—Southern Living
“Chronicle[s] our messy, modern lives.”—Los Angeles Times
“Kenney’s dark humor evokes understanding….A surprise twist reveals that hope and empathy can prevail.”—Shelf Awareness
“Timely, darkly humorous…. A smart, very 21st-century story.”—AARP
“A blunt, hilariously nuanced but devastatingly emotional tale of the age of internet and instant news….And yet, you’ll laugh because Kenney is profane, with a biting, spit-out-your-coffee kind of wit that underscores the pathos and irony of it all…Talk to Me will make you think, and you won’t want to put it down.”—Marco Eagle
“With depth and sympathy…[Kenney] saves a sweetly ironic twist for a redemptive ending….A powerful and moving rendition of a story we’ve been waiting to hear: what it’s like to be the bad guy in this ripped-from-the-headlines situation.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Kenney’s bittersweet, darkly funny latest (after Truth in Advertising) is equal parts family drama and commentary on communication and news consumption in the age of instant gratification. Kenney is supremely gifted at creating flawed, vivid characters and capturing the wonder, ennui, and heartbreak of marriage and parenthood, and the seemingly small moments that make life precious.”—Publishers Weekly
“Kenney’s timely satire succeeds with significant nuance…Most winning, though, are Kenney’s incisive considerations of parenthood, familial love, and what actually matters when all is seemingly lost.”—Booklist
“For all the fast-paced and knowing entertainment it provides, Talk to Me may also serve as a useful antidote to rushed judgment when the next celebrity scandal erupts.”—BookPage
“A superbly crafted story of a swaggering news anchor who disgraces himself, facing shame and regret in an era when being human in public is a bloodsport. Talk to Me is moving, full of punch and sorrow – and told at the velocity of a man plummeting to earth.”—Tom Rachman, author of The Italian Teacher and The Imperfectionists
“This high-voltage tale about a one-percenter learning to navigate a vastly changed America will move you to reconsider what you’re ready to forgive. Timely, keenly observed and my favorite kind of funny, John Kenney’s lastest hits (superbly) home.”—Courtney Maum, author of Touch and I Am Having So Much Fun Without You
“A poignant, and often hilarious, portrait of a man in the midst of an extremely public downfall. Kenney, with humor and tenderness, gives us Ted Grayson, TV anchor of a bygone era as he fumbles through a changing media landscape and one terrible mistake and its fallout. This is a very human, very timely story.”—Vanessa Manko, author of The Invention of Exile
“This book is a tender father-daughter story, a cautionary tale about forgetting what’s important, and an indictment of our toxic instant overreaction culture. Wrap it all together and what do you get? A very funny and unexpectedly touching novel.”—Eddie Joyce, author of Small Mercies
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