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LONGLISTED FOR THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE 2022

‘With Teeth is a wonderfully sticky novel about motherhood, partnership, sex and love. Kristen Arnett lets her characters have the run of the place, and it’s delicious fun to watch them do, say, and think things they’ll regret’ Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here

‘Sublimely weird, fluently paced, brazenly funny and gayer still’ Naoise Dolan, New York Times

‘A darkly funny, brutally honest story about a woman undone by motherhood . . . With Teeth digs in deep and doesn’t let go. I truly loved it’ Jennifer Weiner, bestselling author of Mrs Everything and That Summer

If she’s being honest, Sammie Lucas is scared of her son. Working from home in the close quarters of their Florida house, she lives with one wary eye peeled on Samson, a sullen, unknowable boy who resists her every attempt to bond with him. Uncertain in her own feelings about motherhood, she tries her best – driving, cleaning, cooking, prodding him to finish projects for school – while growing increasingly resentful of Monika, her confident but absent wife. As Samson grows from feral toddler to surly teenager, Sammie’s life begins to deteriorate into a mess of unruly behaviour, and her struggle to create a picture-perfect queer family unravels. When her son’s hostility finally spills over into physical aggression, Sammie must confront her role in the mess – and the possibility that it will never be clean again.

Blending the warmth and wit of Arnett’s breakout hit, Mostly Dead Things, with a candid take on queer family dynamics, With Teeth is a thought-provoking portrait of the delicate fabric of family – and the many ways it can be torn apart.

Publisher Review

A gripping read . . . Unabashedly queer, probing and unafraid . . . Exceedingly engaging * USA Today * Sublimely weird, fluently paced, brazenly funny and gayer still, and it richly deserves to find readers -- Naoise Dolan * New York Times * A beautiful, startling demystification of queer family . . . a portrait of a woman who is, at once, wholly ordinary and not quite like any literary mother who came before -- Vogue Absolutely captivating and scathingly frank . . . Arnett is that rare, brave writer willing to articulate the darkest thoughts even the best parents entertain while trudging along through the most challenging job in the world -- Ron Charles * The Washington Post * Come for the wackiness and wonder of queer family dynamics, stay for the poignant portrait of motherhood on the brink * O, The Oprah Magazine * With Teeth is a wonderfully sticky novel about motherhood, partnership, sex and love. Kristen Arnett lets her characters have the run of the place, and it's delicious fun to watch them do, say, and think things they'll regret -- Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here A darkly funny, brutally honest story about a woman undone by motherhood. Kristen Arnett grapples with the big questions: Is any child essentially unlovable? What does a happy ending look like? With Teeth digs in deep and doesn't let go. I truly loved it -- Jennifer Weiner, bestselling author of Mrs Everything and That Summer It can be hard to escape the belief that other peoples' lives are better, more fulfilling, and more organized than our own. There is something refreshing, even comforting, about this story, a complicated portrait of parenthood in all its unruly beauty * New York Magazine * From the very wise, very funny Kristen Arnett, With Teeth is as exhilaratingly candid as it is morally complex. Three cheers for this enthralling new book, which affirms my status as a card-carrying, rip-roaring, lifelong admirer of Arnett's writing -- R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries Kristen Arnett is wickedly talented and a wholly original voice -- Jami Attenberg, author of All Grown Up It's about a woman who's afraid of her son, uneasy about motherhood, and envious of her wife. Funny? Heartbreaking? This could really go either way, and knowing Kristen Arnett, it'll be a little bit of both in a surprising and delightful way * LitHub, Most Anticipated Books of 2021 * The beloved author behind Mostly Dead Things returns with a story of a queer family and the picture-perfect life they can't quite create. Raising their son Samson in the warmth of Florida, Sammie and Monika want to be the ideal lesbian couple. But Samson is distant, maybe even dangerous, and as he grows older he becomes downright hostile. As their relationships fall apart, Sammie must untangle how her family became this messy - and whether there's any way to fix it * Elle, Most-Anticipated Books of 2021 *