Hole

by Jen Beagin, Emily Gould (Foreword)

This excerpt from Jen Beagin's first novel, PRETEND I'M DEAD, tells the story of Mona's relationship with a recovering heroin addict whom she calls "Mr. Disgusting." Mona meets Mr. Disgusting at the needle exchange where she volunteers after work, and as their relationship begins, one wonders what force inside Mona compels her toward such a self-destructive, and destructed, man. In her introduction, Emily Gould writes, "This book is the magical kind that illuminates a small, self-contained interior world so completely that you feel that you’ve experienced another life within your own. As I closed Pretend I’m Dead, I felt unaccountably sad—not because of what happens in the story, which is a little bit sad, but because I wanted to keep spending time with Mona and stay inside her head. The story excerpted here is only the beginning, and this book is the beginning of a literary career I’ll be watching closely, hoping to fall in love again with something or someone disgusting, compelling, funny, and real like all of us truly are."

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2015

About the author

Jen Beagin holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine, and is a recipient of a 2017 Whiting Award in fiction. She is the author of Pretend I'm Dead and Vacuum in the Dark. A former cleaning lady, she lives in Hudson, New York.

Reviews

[St Fu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was planning on giving it 5 stars but something near the end bothered me and cost it a star. Still, 4's not bad so give it a read.