The New York Times Book Review - René Steinke
It's a bold move to make mermaids the center of a grown-up story, even in a novel as hilariously funny as this one. But Lydia Millet's novels raise the bar for boldness. Through the window of the unlikeliest events or plot twists, she poses the questions many contemporary writers shy away from, or simply skirt…Millet's writing—witty, colorful, sometimes poetic—is, line by line, a joy to read, and her storytelling is immensely compelling. But there's always an equally compelling philosophical discussion humming beneath everything. In Mermaids in Paradise that discussion is about the different ways people see the world, and how perceptions form belief…In her most original way, Millet dares us to examine how we ever know when to be "hard core," or when it's safe to let down our guard. It's a testament to her novel's power that these mermaids retain their mystery, and that the ending of Mermaids in Paradise is one of the most luminous and unsettling in recent fiction.
From the Publisher
"Millet, with her keen sense of the absurd, brings the book to a surprising conclusion, and makes a point about corporate greed and the destruction of the environment without being heavy-handed."— Moira Hodgson Wall Street Journal
"I laughed so hard all over town…leave it to Lydia Millet to capsize her human characters in aquamarine waters and upstage their honeymoon with mermaids. I am awed to know there's a mind like Millet's out there—she's a writer without limits, always surprising, always hilarious."— Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove
"Mermaids in Paradise makes brilliant comedy out of a honeymoon trip that veers from the absurd to the sublime and back again. Lydia Millet is a stone-cold genius."— Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation
"[A] laser-focused satire… The novel has the shape and pace of a thriller… An admirable example of a funny novel with a serious message that works swimmingly. Dive in."— Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"With equal parts calculated wryness and pleading earnestness, [Millet] delivers a thrilling piece of fabulist fiction."— Publishers Weekly, Starred review
"A hilarious genre-bender that strikes some serious chords."— Jane Ciabattari BBC.com
"Suspenseful, philosophical, and tropical—the funniest you’ll ever read on ecotourism and the wisest you’ll ever read on mermaids."— Natalie Beach O Magazine
"[A] deft satire… Millet ramps up the suspense."— Melissa Maerz Entertainment Weekly
"A romp with sharp teeth… a slapstick variation on Millet’s abiding theme: the relationship between human beings and the natural world."— Laura Miller Salon
"Now that David Foster Wallace is gone, I think Lydia Millet is the American writer with the funniest, wisest grasp on how we fool ourselves… she has as good a chance as anyone to write the novel that defines our time."— Charles Finch Chicago Tribune
