Agnes Lives! (1997)

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"An astonishing debut as mesmerizing as it is unnerving." —Joyce Carol Oates A day-in-the-life debut novel about a fading socialite on the hunt for someone to kill her before her next SoulCycle class. "A tale of suspense, a statement, a cry for help, and a delicious tour-de-force." —Nell Zink New York City, 2014. Agnes Maurer seeks a willing murderer and wonders what she should wear. Candidates include: an icy magazine editor with a special cutlery set; an eccentric designer from her past; and Agnes's cruel novelist boyfriend. As she Ubers from Upper East Side shopping to Craigslist gun deals, Agnes' desperation becomes an exhibition, a swan song of millennial sexuality as internalized abuse and consummate style, with the knob righty-tightened all the way. Newton's prose is disturbingly fun, relentless, shattering. A crafted study of existential despair that culminates in a worthy, intense denouement