A 2023 HIGHLIGHT FOR: THE TIMES * TELEGRAPH * STYLIST * GQ * GUARDIAN * HARPER'S BAZAAR * GOOD
HOUSEKEEPING * WATERSTONES * i-D * IRISH TIMES * HUFFINGTON POST UK _______________ 'A
blade-sharp coming-of-age novel' SPECTATOR 'Confirms Flattery as a bracingly original writer'
IRISH INDEPENDENT 'In enviably elegant prose she manages to be both arch and deadly serious'
LOUISE KENNEDY _______________ A wildly original debut novel about two young women navigating
the complex worlds of Andy Warhol's Factory and coming of age in 1960s New York New York City
1966. Seventeen-year-old Mae lives in a run-down 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. Nothing Special is a whip-smart coming-of-age story
about friendship independence and the construction of art and identity bringing to life the
experience of young women in this iconic and turbulent moment. _______________ PRAISE FOR SHOW
THEM A GOOD TIME: 'A masterclass . . . Bold irreverent and agonisingly funny' Sally Rooney
'Announces the arrival of a brilliant talent' Financial Times 'Explores difficult questions
about self-worth agency and intimacy with thrilling sharpness' Sunday Times 'Demands repeated
reading' Jon McGregor
