Clickbait
A Novel
Will be published approx. on 7. November 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-0-06-337576-5 (ISBN)
Description
With the dark comedy and sharp observations of Monica Heisey and Dolly Alderton, this whip-smart and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel about starting over follows a disgraced, newly divorced journalist demoted to a "clickbait" job at a Manhattan tabloid.
The first thing they tell you when you begin your training is never to become the news.
Natasha has screwed up royally. Her mistake isn't just embarrassing, it's a breach of journalistic ethics that makes headlines and costs her a plum job reporting from London. Back in New York at thirty-five and single, divorced from a kind man she loved, she finds herself at the bottom of the media food chain-a junior reporter at a clickbait factory, rewriting sensational tabloid stories to make them just different enough to avoid lawsuits.
As if her professional fall from grace weren't bad enough, she's taken the money she'd saved for a down payment for a home on a charming Brooklyn block with her husband, and rashly bought a boxy apartment overlooking the gray ocean in Rockaway Beach, Queens.
Though seeing friends and family only serves to remind her of what she's lost, things begin to pick up when her ex-boyfriend Zach moves back to New York and accepts her offer of a spare bedroom. This new forced proximity arrangement is strictly platonic, of course-for him. But Natasha can't help but wonder whether this second chance romance might be the solution to all her problems.
As Natasha's obsession with Zach grows and her involvement in increasingly dystopian "churnalism" deepens, this darkly comedic novel builds as her worlds threaten to collide in the most cataclysmic, extremely public way.
The first thing they tell you when you begin your training is never to become the news.
Natasha has screwed up royally. Her mistake isn't just embarrassing, it's a breach of journalistic ethics that makes headlines and costs her a plum job reporting from London. Back in New York at thirty-five and single, divorced from a kind man she loved, she finds herself at the bottom of the media food chain-a junior reporter at a clickbait factory, rewriting sensational tabloid stories to make them just different enough to avoid lawsuits.
As if her professional fall from grace weren't bad enough, she's taken the money she'd saved for a down payment for a home on a charming Brooklyn block with her husband, and rashly bought a boxy apartment overlooking the gray ocean in Rockaway Beach, Queens.
Though seeing friends and family only serves to remind her of what she's lost, things begin to pick up when her ex-boyfriend Zach moves back to New York and accepts her offer of a spare bedroom. This new forced proximity arrangement is strictly platonic, of course-for him. But Natasha can't help but wonder whether this second chance romance might be the solution to all her problems.
As Natasha's obsession with Zach grows and her involvement in increasingly dystopian "churnalism" deepens, this darkly comedic novel builds as her worlds threaten to collide in the most cataclysmic, extremely public way.
Reviews / Votes
"'Clickbait made me wince and made me howl. With a biting humor and a flair for the outrageous that is entirely her own, Holly Baxter has created an antiheroine for our times. A darkly hilarious debut that satirically captures our morally vapid media world with more accuracy than I ever thought possible. I loved it." - Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett"In this razor-sharp, darkly humorous novel, Holly Baxter draws a no-holds-barred portrait of a woman whose actions have caused her life to collapse at her feet-and charts her misguided attempts to climb out of the rubble. I laughed. I cringed. I couldn't stop reading." - Clemence Michallon, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant
"A dazzling and hilarious debut novel about work, love, passion and publishing. Think Bridget Jones meets Fleabag at a Manhattan tabloid."
- Susan Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Unhooked and Five Men Who Broke My Heart
"Like yelling at the movie screen, 'DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR,' you will yell at Clickbait's fabulously flawed, smart, and entertaining Natasha as she bungles and fumbles her way through a skyrocketing and hell-plunging time in her life. This book is impossible to put down-you can't help but root for Natasha who manages to humiliate herself from England to Rockaway and beyond." - Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane
"This satire of media and publishing may hit a little too close to home for anyone who works in journalism--but you should definitely give this dark comedy a try either way. Baxter captures just the right blend of cringe and humor, and you won't want to look away from this train wreck." - Katie Couric Media
"Baxter's debut is a portrait of a misanthropic yet wry thirtysomething in vain trying to fix her life...She's living in a tumultuous world of her own making, and she'll have to change if she ever wants a life she can be proud of. Recommend to readers of She's a Killer, and anyone who enjoys stories of adults refusing to grow up. - Booklist
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 136 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
261 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-337576-5 (9780063375765)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Holly Baxter is an executive editor and staff writer at the Independent in New York. She has experience in generating clicks on both sides of the Atlantic, having worked in the Independent's London office as a reporter for three years. Her work was shortlisted for a Press Award for Feature of the Year in 2019 and she often appears on British radio and television. Baxter lives in Brooklyn, New York.