Little Stalker

by Jennifer Belle

Overview

In the tradition of Tom Perrotta, an offbeat and hilarious story of voyeurism, obsession, and relationships-both real and imaginary-from the bestselling author of High Maintenance and Going Down.

Rebekah Kettle is obsessed. Not with her quirky, adoring paparazzo boyfriend or the gossip columnist who wants to be her new best friend, but with someone she's never even met--cult filmmaker Arthur Weeman. But when the window of an Upper East Side apartment provides her with a scandalous view into Weeman's life, Rebekah has to decide: does she give her new love the scoop of a lifetime--a photo of the compromised Weeman--or does she remain loyal to the man whose films have defined her life? Bold, daring, and deliciously twisted, Little Stalker is a hilarious story of voyeurism, obsession, and relationships--both real and

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594482922
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/06/2008
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	1,070,835
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.91(h) x 1.01(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Belle is the bestselling author of Going Down (for which she was named best debut novelist of the year by Entertainment Weekly), High Maintenance, and Little Stalker. Her stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Independent (London), Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Ms., Black Book, Mudfish, and many anthologies. She lives in New York City and Olivebridge, New York, with her husband and their two sons.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Read with an engaging detachment by Renée Raudman, Rebekah's voice is, by turns, earnestly confiding and coolly distant, encouraging the listener to like her without really knowing why." —-AudioFile

Editorial Reviews

"Delicious."
--New York Daily News

"Endearing."
--The Seattle Times

"Hilariously poignant."
--The Hartford Courant

"An offbeat, surprisingly sweet story about voyeurism, celebrity, obsession, and writer's block...Little Stalker is a treat--hilarious, richly textured, subtly insightful, and undeniably twisted."
-- The Boston Globe

"Compulsively readable...Little Stalker is an affecting meditation on the connections we make--with others and with ourselves--as we age, from a writer whose work is maturing quite beautifully."
--Salon

"Twisted and tender...Will keep you hooked to the last page."
-- Cosmopolitan

"A smart and hilarious read; you'll fall in love with Belle's neurotic heroine."
--People

"Belle suffuses this story with genuine sweetness."
--The Indianapolis Star

"This humorous and intelligent novel, graced by a quirky and insightful protagonist, is sure to please fans of Belle's work and create new admirers."
--Library Journal

"Sparkles with offbeat humor."
--Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

A light-hearted romp through New York' [is] precisely what Belle delivers. That it comes with a skewering as well makes it just that much more fun.

New York Daily News

Twisted and tender.

Cosmopolitan

Deliciously sardonic.

Hartford Courant

There's lots of in-house enthusiasm for this first novel about a young woman who's shocked to discover that the movie director she's obsessed with isn't perfect. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Young novelist stalled after the early success of her first book becomes increasingly fixated on a famous filmmaker she has admired since childhood. For 33-year-old Rebekah Kettle, few things are as comforting as the annual release of an Arthur Weeman movie. A prolific New York writer/director/actor (yes, think Woody Allen), Weeman has always been there for her, dating back to her parents' divorce. So devoted is Rebekah that she spends $22,000 of her doctor father's money at an Arthur Weeman prop sale, taking home such useful items as a gondola and an oxygen tank. Feeling slightly guilty about using her preoccupied dad's money, which he has not yet discovered missing, she decides to pitch in at his medical practice after his assistant/mistress Irmabelle leaves. It is there she meets Mrs. Williams, a wheelchair-bound elderly woman suffering from what appears to be dementia. She also, it turns out, lives in the building facing Weeman's, with a view into his kitchen. Soon Rebekah is wheeling Mrs. Williams about, buying her diapers-and watching Weeman. Things get weirder when she starts writing to him in the guise of a pubescent girl named Thalia. Her unanswered letters are wildly imaginative wonders of provocation and innocence, and she notices Weeman starting to squire around an actual underage schoolgirl. For Rebekah, Weeman's inappropriate "relationship" is less troubling than the fact that her letters appear to have affected him. She soon realizes that she has found a subject for her second novel. Around this time, she meets her romantic match in Isaac Myman, an oddball tabloid photographer. As she and Isaac get closer, she feels torn: Exposing Weeman's secret could win Isaac a careerboost. In eccentric Rebekah, Belle (High Maintenance, 2001, etc.) has created another unforgettable narrator-funny, self-absorbed, a little damaged-and never predictable. Darkly comic journey touching on love, art and the nature of obsession.

Kirkus Reviews

Off-balance, shocking, and assertive right from the start, Rebekah Kettle, the first-person narrator of this story, moves through a life that is a more of a series of missteps than anything else. Read with an engaging detachment by Renée Raudman, Rebekah's voice is, by turns, earnestly confiding and coolly distant, encouraging the listener to like her without really knowing why. The story unfolds with twists and turns that are impossible to turn away from. Surreal moments, smooth flashbacks, and incredible doses of humor abound in this irresistible audiobook. Raudman's performance is well suited to the journey Rebekah takes as wunderkind debut novelist, lost child, and obsessive fan. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

OCT/NOV 07 - AudioFile