A Gorgeous Excitement

Praise

“The title of this assured début novel is taken from Freud’s description of cocaine’s effects. That drug, combined with prescription medications, sex, and alcohol, fuels the narrative, which is closely modelled on the real-life death of a Manhattan teen-ager in 1986—the so-called Preppy Murder case.”—The New Yorker

“A Gorgeous Excitement is a thrilling coming-of-age narrative set in 1980s Manhattan, featuring twists of humor, vulnerability and, of course, excitement . . . brimming with beautiful prose and suspense.” —Shelf Awareness

“Informed by the author’s real-life acquaintance with ‘Preppy Killer’ Robert Chambers, this 1980s coming-of-age tale is chillingly compelling.”—People

“Lush and thrilling.”—Publishers Weekly

“This novel is my shit. . . . I knew I needed to read Cynthia Weiner’s novel the minute it was announced.”—Maris Kreizman, The Maris Review

“Cynthia Weiner condemns the callous attitudes and conspicuous consumption of an entire strata of society ready to believe the worst of an outsider while refusing to see the truth of one of their own.” —Crime Reads

“On the Upper East Side in the 1980s, Nina Jacobs is desperate to fit in. Throughout this absorbing, astute novel, she endures painful parenting, scurrilous gossip, and regular old teenage indignity.”—Town & Country

“Terrific debut . . . the book recalls another excellent true crime–inspired novel, Emma Cline’s The Girls. Carefully paced and beautifully written, this edgy coming-of-age novel succeeds on all counts.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Dazzling . . . Weiner evokes the frisson of flirtation (and possibly more) with strangers and the dangers of being young, female, and caught in a crowd unaccustomed to suffering the consequences of their actions.”—Oprah Daily

“Weiner incisively captures the timbre of the time; the city’s beauty, madness, and terror; the stunning recklessness of young women; and the endless complexities of families.”—Booklist

“A vivid snapshot of a bygone era and evocative coming-of-age story, A Gorgeous Excitement lives up to its title.”—Margarita Montimore, national bestselling author of Oona Out of Order

“A gripping, juicy, fascinating glimpse into a rarified world of a realm by now transformed.”—Tama Janowitz, author of Slaves of New York and A Certain Age

“Delightful and terrifying, an expertly written non-coming of age that also serves as cautionary tale, as quintessentially haunting as New York City itself.”—Elisa Albert, author of After Birth and Human Blues

“I read this brilliant debut with my heart in my throat.”—Daisy Alpert Florin, author of My Last Innocent Year

“Cynthia Weiner offers a delicious response to Bright Lights, Big City, capturing vividly what it was like for a young woman in the louchely glamourous, cocaine-fueled, privileged white Manhattan of the 1980s.”—Susan Jane Gilman, New York Times bestselling author of Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress and The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street

“A Gorgeous Excitement is a propulsive read filled with vivid characters and a uniquely hilarious, if impossibly sad, mother-daughter dynamic.”—Holly Brickley, author of the forthcoming Deep Cuts