Heather, the Totality

Reviews

"Fans of Mad Men will find familiar themes lurking in the show creator's debut novel."—Harper's Bazaar "Heather, The Totality is a tour de force of control, tone and razor-slash insight. In its clear-eyed anatomist's gaze and its remarkable combination of empathy and pitilessness I hear echoes of Flaubert and Richard Yates, with a deeply twisted twist of Muriel Spark at her darkest. I could not put it down."
—Michael Chabon, author of Moonglow "Short and rapier-sharp, Matthew Weiner's HEATHER, THE TOTALITY compels and unnerves in equal measure. Like the great Patricia Highsmith, Weiner renders the disturbing not just plausible but exquisitely, agonizingly inevitable. A tour de force."—Claire Messud, author of The Burning Girl "This short novel of upper-crust anomie and class-divide obsession is a scorcher! It's the classic noir construction: the short walk off the long ledge and the plummet to an indifferent Hell. Matthew Weiner demonically delivers the goods! Read this book in one gasping breath."—James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential and Perfidia "Weiner deftly exposes the weirdness of mundane life changes" and "chillingly reminds us of how unstable the ground is that we take for granted beneath our feet."—Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air "creepy, unsettling...and queasily seductive"—USA Today "Beyond its chilling portrait of America's social and economic divide, the novel raises a number of thorny questions... Weiner writes with maximum economy"—Associated Press "You'll devour it in a single, heart-racing sitting."—People "slim but it packs a substantial punch"—Seattle Review of Books "The Matthew Weiner of Mad Men makes himself known in Heather via sharp and complex character insights...the novel transcends the status of a mere sleek, domestic thriller, and contributes meaningfully, unexpectedly, to resistance."—The Millions "A sharp, slim page-turner, though much simmers underneath the surface of Weiner's deft prose."—BookPage "Weiner's award-winning writing and producing of such renowned television shows as The Sopranos and Mad Men is neatly evident in his quietly thrilling debut novel. Written in descriptive and illuminating scene-like snippets-though nearly free of dialogue-this one-sitting read concerns the eerily shared delusions of a privileged Manhattan family and a man who stalks the periphery of their lives...The sense of doom is sharply rendered, characters are well developed, and their motivations are finely wrought. Readers will hope for more book-form fiction from Weiner."—Booklist "A sharp, character-driven debut novel that examines class and parenting with equal power,"—B&N Reads "Weiner has created a very contemporary and creepy little novel about a teenaged girl and a fervent admirer. Rife with observations about Manhattan's elite, Heather is both unsettling and satisfying."—Literary Hub "viscerally real and totally chilling, this is a fantastic book."—Bookreporter "A page-turning thriller...we highly recommend reading it in one sitting so you can soak it all in."—Popsugar "Heather, The Totality gripped me at once and had me spellbound. It was partly the absolute certainty of the world he was describing, the sense that beyond these brilliantly chosen details there was a wealth of similarly truthful social and psychological perception unstated. And partly the slightly fastidious form, the sound of a voice a hair's breadth away from affectation, but so firmly where it was that there was no question of turning away and not hearing what was going to come next. Then there was the ice-cold mercilessness, of a kind that reminded me (oddly, I suppose, but there it was) of Evelyn Waugh."—Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials "slender but searingly intense".—New York Journal of Book "An exciting debut novel with a fast-paced plot and plenty of suspense"—Vogue "sure to draw in fans of his character-driven work...Leave it to Weiner to derail a picture-perfect family."—W Magazine "A lacerating novella."—O, The Oprah Magazine "Brief but with a big punch...Weiner paints a detailed, achingly insightful picture."—Elle "Mad Men creator Weiner crafts a finely honed tale that highlights class conflict." —Publisher's Weekly "A page-turning thriller."—Pop Sugar "I cringed and shuddered my way through this short, daring novel to its terrible inevitable end. Each neat, measured paragraph carpaccios its characters to get to the book's heart - one of Boschian self-cannibalising isolation. A stunning novel. Heather, The Totality blew me away."—Nick Cave "A miraculous and fearless novel, Heather is unprecedented. As well as being smart, sharp and readable, it proves there are still fresh and exciting ways to write fiction."—MJ Hyland, author of Carry Me Down "Chilling and poised, I loved it"—Maggie O'Farrell, author of This Must Be the Place Expand reviews