Maggie Estep (1963–2014)

This novel tells the story of two sisters, Alice and Eloise, and their mother, Kimberly. Alice is a gambler focusing on horse racing, and Eloise makes stuffed animals. Kimberly rescues dogs. Honestly, that is as exciting as this book gets. It is written so that the chapters shift from one narrator to the other, each of the women getting their opportunity to tell their story.

With these interesting career choices and shifting narrations, this book should have been much more interesting than it was. Nothing really happens and what little does occur is boring. The writing style fell very flat. Each character was indistinguishable from the other and the shifting narrators made that even more obvious. I was pretty uninterested through most of it.… (more)

In a charming piece that manages to be touching in spite of itself, Maggie Estep spins the story of how Alice Hunter, her sister Eloise, and their mother navigate their way through very challenging lives. It’s a hysterically funny piece, full of gallows and self-deprecating humor. Novelist Jonathan Ames says Ms. Estep “is the bastard daughter of Raymond Chandler and Anaïs Nin.”

So yes, the sisters are so abrupt with each other and their mother, both in thought and word, that their outward, gruff exteriors may be described as hard-boiled. And though the author portrays the ever-present inclination among all three to express and act upon their erotic desires, this inclination never intrudes on the story; it always serves it as an integral feature that at times brings the three women closer and at other times drives a wedge between them.

This novel is about the growth of all three women, who are closer in age than most mother-daughter combinations. The women grow in fits and starts, through painful episodes, like the incarceration of a lover, and an unexpected pregnancy. Ms. Estep knows her subject, and doesn’t let any of her narrative decay into sentiment (which is warded off by wise-cracking and verbal bullying), or rancor, because eventually we know it’s no more than skin-deep. This is the growth that’s on offer. It will affect you; it gratifies with its balanced treatment and realistic conclusions.

I enjoyed Alice Fantastic more and more as I got into it. I’m glad I stuck with it because 40% of the way in, I wasn’t sure I would. Give this a go. Maggie Estep’s book is bright, clever, very well paced, and surprisingly affecting.… (more)

Zoe is a wreck. She is a 27 year old receptionist in an S&M Dungeon and member of the informal "Idiot's Anonymous" support group, she struggles daily to keep herself from relapsing back to heroin, and she is surrounded by colorful and bizarre characters who struggle with their own addictions and unstable lives. Clearly, Zoe's story is not for everyone, as it is offensive and vulgar and sometimes, disgusting and disturbing. However, it is also extremely funny at times, and you have to laugh at how predictable the characters can be, as well as Zoe's chronic poor judgment. I'm not sure I can recommend this to many of my friends but for those who can find humor in addiction, sex, perversity, and an entire book filled with offensive language, this one may be for you!… (more)