This metaliterary end-of-the-world novel is "a Gen-X queer girl's version of the bohemian counter-canon" (New York Times).
Desperate to quell her addiction to drugs and alcohol, disastrous romance, and nineties San Francisco, Michelle heads south to LA But soon it’s officially announced that the world will end in one year, and life in the sprawling metropolis becomes increasingly weird.
While living in an abandoned bookstore, dating Matt Dillon, and keeping an eye on the encroaching apocalypse, Michelle begins a new novel, a meta-textual exploration to complement her vows to embrace maturity and responsibility. But as she tries to make queer love and art without succumbing to self-destructive impulses, the boundaries between storytelling and everyday living begin to blur, and Michelle wonders how much she’ll have to compromise her artistic process if she’s going to properly ride out doomsday.
Michelle Tea’s memoirs include The Passionate Mistakes, The Chelsea Whistle, Rent Girl, and Valencia, winner of a Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Fiction. Valencia was also made into a feature-length film and toured film festivals globally, and the book was translated into Slovenian, Japanese, and German. She is also the author of the novel Rose of No Man’s Land, and editor of anthologies Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache; Without a Net; It’s So You; and Baby, Remember My Name. She is also the author of a Young Adult fantasy trilogy being published by McSweeney’s. Her most recent book is How to Grow Up, a memoir in essays published by Penguin/Plume.
Michelle was the recipient of an award from the Rona Jaffe Foundation, a GOLDIE in Literature from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and selected Best Local Writer by both the Guardian and San Francisco Weekly.
Michelle writes for various print and web publications, including The Believer, n+1, Buzzfeed, and xoJane. She is the creator of Mutha Magazine, an online publication about real-life parenting.
In 1994 Michelle Tea created Sister Spit, an all-girl open mic that ran weekly for two years in San Francisco, earning a Best of the Bay Award from The San Francisco Bay Guardian. From 1997 – 1999 Sister Spit toured the United States, bringing an ever-changing roster of female writers and performance artists across the country, including poet Eileen Myles, New York Times Bestselling author Beth Lisick, and transgender author, musician and performance artist Lynn Breedlove. In 2003 Michelle founded RADAR Productions, a literary non-profit organization that oversees a multitude of queer-centric projects.
