Nothing Special
Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery, published by Bloomsbury USA on August 13, 2024, is a coming-of-age novel set in 1960s New York. The story follows seventeen-year-old Mae, who lives in a rundown apartment with her alcoholic mother and her mother’s sometimes-boyfriend, Mikey. Disenchanted with her high school peers and the men she encounters, Mae drops out and accepts a job as a typist for the renowned artist Andy Warhol, where she becomes immersed in a world of creativity and counterculture.
In this edition, readers will find Mae navigating her new role transcribing Warhol’s unconventional novel, which captures the conversations of his famous friends. As she befriends Shelley, the two embark on a surreal adventure that explores their womanhood and sexuality. However, Mae’s growing obsession with the tapes leads her to confront the complexities of art and voyeurism, challenging her sense of identity amid the cultural upheaval of the sixties. This novel delves into themes of friendship, art, and self-discovery, offering a unique perspective on the experiences of young women during this iconic period.
Official synopsis Publisher
A wildly original, “gorgeous . . . brave and effecting” (New York Times Book Review) coming-of age novel about a teenage girl working at Andy Warhol’s Factory in 1960s New York.
New York City, 1966. Seventeen-year-old Mae lives in a rundown apartment with her alcoholic mother and her mother’s sometimes-boyfriend, Mikey. She is turned off by the petty girls at her high school, and the sleazy men she typically meets. When she drops out, she is presented with a job offer that will remake her world entirely: she is hired as a typist for the artist Andy Warhol.
Warhol is composing an unconventional novel by recording the conversations and experiences of his many famous and alluring friends. Tasked with transcribing these tapes alongside several other girls, Mae quickly befriends Shelley and the two of them embark on a surreal adventure at the fringes of the countercultural movement. Going to parties together, exploring their womanhood and sexuality, this should be the most enlivening experience of Mae’s life. But as she grows increasingly obsessed with the tapes and numb to her own reality, Mae must grapple with the thin line between art and voyeurism and determine how she can remain her own person as the tide of the sixties sweeps over her.
For readers of Ottessa Moshfegh and Mary Gaitskill, Nothing Special is a whip-smart, mordantly funny coming-of-age story that brings to life the experience of young girls in this iconic and turbulent American moment, and brilliantly interrogates the intersections of friendship, art, and identity.
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