I Smile Back (EBOOK)

“Powerful. Koppelman’s instincts help her navigate these choppy waters with inventiveness and integrity.”
—Los Angeles Times

Synopsis

Laney Brooks acts out. Married with kids, she takes the drugs she wants, sleeps with the men she wants, disappears when she wants. Lurking beneath Laney’s composed surface is the destructive impulse to follow in the footsteps of her father, to leave and topple her family’s balance in the process.

I Smile Back by Amy Koppelman =

* In most cases, none of these writers endorse this book. Our math formulas are supposed to be amusing anecdotes, similar to shelf-talkers in bookstores that say "If you like X, you might enjoy Y," or "This Book is like Cormac McCarthy writing an episode of Saved by the Bell with a soundtrack by Philip Glass."

Read Goodreads reviews here.

“Koppelman explores with ruthless honesty a woman come undone.”
—Bookslut

“Koppelman mosly writes from inside Laney’s disillusioned mind, ricocheting between the quotidian details of wife and motherhood and big-picture musings, forming exquisite stand-alone tone poems.”
—Elle

"We've been buzzing about this book all week, thanks to Sarah Silverman's career-changing performance... Koppelman writes about pain in a painfully beautiful way."
—Glamour

“This crushing novel by the author of A Mouthful of Air is a shocking portrait of suburban ennui gone horribly awry. Koppelman’s prose style is understated and crackling; each sentence is laden with a foreboding sense of menace. Like a crime scene or a flaming car wreck, it becomes impossible not to stare.”
—Publishers Weekly 

“Laney Brooks is a woman in agony, suffering from an undefined malady that makes standard housewife ennui—boredom from carpooling or picking up dry cleaning—look like a picnic. Laney’s despair, [is] ably depicted by Amy Koppelman in her affecting second novel.”
—Bookforum 

“This book is a demanding read, with relentless pacing, a choppy, aggressive tone and a compelling battle for redemption.”
—Lilith Magazine 

“Koppelman’s writing is expressive and nuanced... [a] potent novel.”
—Booklist 

“[Koppelman’s] brave and challenging look beyond appearances of beauty to the ugly reality of a disturbed mind will remain with readers long after they’ve finished the book. Highly recommended for literary collections.”
—Library Journal

Amy Koppelman is a graduate of Columbia's MFA program. Her writing has appeared in The New York Observer and Lilith. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children, and is the author of the novels, A Mouthful of Air and Hesitation Wounds.

Enjoy a sneak peek of select pages from I Smile Back! Please note that the cover is outdated in this sneak peek version. (Use the "full screen" option at bottom right to enlarge the pages):

LIST PRICE: $15.00
PAGES: 194
PRINT ISBN: 978-0-9763895-9-0
DIGITAL ISBN: 9780982684825
RELEASE DATE: 11/1/2008
AUDIO BOOK: Audible.com