Jenny in Corona

by Stuart M. Ross

Tyrone has a problem. Several problems, in fact: a girlfriend who sleeps around, a boss he's sleeping with, and various types of guilt (Catholic, Jewish, White) he can't live without. Plus, there's his deceased mother, his pill-popping father (who at least shares the good ones), the death of a metal guitarist who lives in his attic and shreds into the wee morning hours, and the coworker obsessed with the 200 movies Robert De Niro may or may not have filmed between 1974 and 1976. Follow Ty as he muddles through twenty-something life tangled up in Manhattan and Queens, good sex and bad drugs, and the relative merits of Antonioni, and Superman II.

RUNNING TIME ➼ 6hrs. and 17mins.

©2019 Stuart Ross (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

222 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2019

About the author

Stuart Ross is a writer from Queens living in Chicago. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s MFA program, he is the author of the novel Jenny in Corona (Tortoise Books, 2019). His work has appeared in places like Necessary Fiction, New World Writing, The Rumpus, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The Awl, Diagram, LitPub, Expat Press, and many others. He is the Reviews Editor at Eclectica Magazine.

Reviews

[Joe Milazzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the blurb I penned for this book. "If you’ve ever doubted whether our contemporary discourse (much less predicament) could inspire truly stirring music, then Stuart Ross has a filibuster for you. Throughout JENNY IN CORONA, his prose evokes a dizzying assortment of past American masters of the sublimely vulgar, from Stanley Elkin to Joy Williams to Bret Easton Ellis to Ishmael Reed, all while carrying its own unmistakable tune with disarmingly perfect pitch. Call it the comic novel of now that we don’t deserve — but with whose satiric insights we’ve been graced nevertheless."

[Valerie Sayers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raunchy and sublime, with language that poppoppops.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this is a book I will need to come back and reread later in life. It poses so many questions, and makes me skeptical and optimistic all at once.

[Jaclyn Eccesso]

Jenny in Corona by Stuart Ross has all the elements of a strange, intriguing, and insightful novel.

Our narrator, Tyrone, is a twenty-something “meat head” as his sometimes-girlfriend Jenny would describe him. Tyrone, or Ty, as he much prefers, takes readers through the full gamut of his life from the time his music teacher sexually abused him (despite the fact that he is reminded by many and by himself that ‘he wanted it’) to his multitude of current dilemmas. He and Jenny have an on-again off-again relationship, each pushing the other away simply in order to have them come begging for more. Ty alternates between imagining his future with Jenny and daydreaming about a life with his boss, who he happens to be having an affair with. Ty’s mother has been dead for years, his father is hyped up on meds all day, and he lives under a death metal guitarist who writes satanic music but also attends church.

Ty’s life is a whirlwind of absolute mess, not unlike most twenty-somethings in our modern age. He vacillates from wallowing in self-pity to hating everyone around him, to loving everything and everyone and seeing the whole world as potential. He moves between being dissociated with his current situation to so acutely feeling his own pain that he can’t function in the world around him.

A beautiful, moving, and utterly strange novel, Jenny in Corona definitely takes a dedicated reader who is willing to follow the wiles of Ty’s brain through all the memories and feelings and disconnectedness he shares with us.

[Daniel Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book blurbed by author Rebecca Makkai immediately goes on our radar, but Stuart Ross’ Jenny in Corona moved toward the top of the list because 1. Makkai refers to Ross’ strange mind and 2. the book is set in Queens, N.Y. It was indeed a pleasure to dive into the warped mind of the novel’s protagonist and see my favorite New York City borough through his eyes. Plus, Jenny in Corona has one of the best covers you’ll see all year.

[Derek McCaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

These kinds of novels always make me wonder if I squandered my 20s or not. Language crackles, making an enjoyable read. Protagonist Ty Has lost his soul, Stuart Ross makes the journey back entertaining and thought-provoking.

[Lana Orndorff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great contemporary read with a unique rhythm and classic literature feel. I loved how Ross plays with the sound of language in his writing. Will definitely look out for more work from this author.

[Brooks Sterritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A ripped poster on a cooler reads: flowers are the earth laughing."

[Avner Landes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant and hilarious and crushing. Your heart will ache for poor Ty.

[Alyssa Edmonds · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did Not Finish! Hated it. might pick up again but definitely not for a while!

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't love this book just because I share the author's name. I love it because every sentence is so challenging, fresh, and exciting. There is more energy on each page here than you find in most other books published these days. This book kicks ass.

[Stuart Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

has its moments.