Gonzo Girl

'Raucous, page-turning, head-spinning, and side-splitting... Gonzo Girl will suck you in and take you on ride' Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is The New Black

Alley Russo is a recent college grad desperately trying to make it in the gruelling world of New York publishing, but like so many who have come before her, she has no connections and has settled for an unpaid magazine internship while slinging drinks on Bleecker Street just to make ends meet.

That's when she hears the infamous Walker Reade is looking for an assistant to replace the eight others who have recently quit. Hungry for a chance to get her manuscript onto the desk of an experienced editor, Alley jumps at the opportunity to help Reade finish his latest novel.

After surviving an absurd three-day 'trial period' involving a .44 magnum, purple-pyramid acid, violent verbal outbursts, brushes with fame and the law, a bevy of peacocks, and a whole lot of cocaine, Alley is invited to stay at the compound where Reade works. For months Alley attempts to coax the novel out of Walker page-by-page, all while battling his endless procrastination, vampiric schedule, Herculean substance abuse, mounting debt, and casual gunplay.

But as the job begins to take a toll on her psyche, Alley realises she's alone in the Colorado Rockies at the mercy of a drug-addicted literary icon who may never produce another novel-and her fate may already be sealed.

“Gonzo Girl is a thrilling fictionalised (just barely) account of working with a true genius - until the celebrity-filled, drug-fuelled partying becomes too much”

Gonzo Girl is a thrilling fictionalised (just barely) account of working with a true genius - until the celebrity-filled, drug-fuelled partying becomes too much - Entertainment Weekly (Must List selection)

A margarita-fueled, miniskirt-clad cautionary tale of lost literary innocence - Vogue

Gonzo Girl is good, fast fun, like a thrill ride in a red convertible. A 1973 Chevy Caprice Classic, to be exact. You know the one. - Newsday

Full throttle from page one, this bildungsroman is a unique and mesmerising tale about a young woman who must test her own limits and find her own voice to actualise a certain version of the American dream. - Elle.com

CHERYL DELLA PIETRA is a longtime New York City magazine editor, writer, and copy editor. She has published numerous stories in such magazines as Marie Claire, Redbook, and POV Magazine.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she lived with Hunter S. Thompson in Woody Creek, Colorado, for several months in 1992, where she worked as his assistant.

She currently lives in Branford, Connecticut, with her husband and son.

cheryldellapietra.com

twitter.com/CherylPietra

'Raucous, page-turning, head-spinning, and side-splitting... Gonzo Girl will suck you in and take you on ride' Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is The New Black Alley Russo is a recent college grad desperately trying to make it in the gruelling world of New York publishing, but like so many who have come before her, she has no connections and has settled for an unpaid magazine internship while slinging drinks on Bleecker Street just to make ends meet. That's when she hears the infamous Walker Reade is looking for an assistant to replace the eight others who have recently quit. Hungry for a chance to get her manuscript onto the desk of an experienced editor, Alley jumps at the opportunity to help Reade finish his latest novel.After surviving an absurd three-day 'trial period' involving a .44 magnum, purple-pyramid acid, violent verbal outbursts, brushes with fame and the law, a bevy of peacocks, and a whole lot of cocaine, Alley is invited to stay at the compound where Reade works. For months Alley attempts to coax the novel out of Walker page-by-page, all while battling his endless procrastination, vampiric schedule, Herculean substance abuse, mounting debt, and casual gunplay. But as the job begins to take a toll on her psyche, Alley realises she's alone in the Colorado Rockies at the mercy of a drug-addicted literary icon who may never produce another novel-and her fate may already be sealed.

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