Nineteen Ninety-Nine

From Anxiety Press



"The literary equivalent of an exploitation film."

"A sex and drug fueled joy ride with surprising poetic descriptions that recall Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”... Delivers on Anxiety Press’s subversive brand."
- Francesca Lia Block, author of Echo

"…a swirling mass of lovable contradictions…unhinged but deftly executed, nihilistic yet unexpectedly heartfelt…A story steeped in suicide and addiction, it captures the last pangs of a wholesome teen America before it was swallowed by the cold grip of social media and smartphones…1999 stands as a cultural signpost marking where it all went wrong."
- Daniel Falatko, author of The Wayback Machine

In the early days of the post-Columbine summer of 1999, Martin Ogilvie, a sensitive but troubled sixteen-year-old with a penchant for heavy metal music and horror movies, and Leah Sakellarion, his more affluent, Adderall-popping, sexually promiscuous best friend, find their lives upended when Martin develops an obsession with a beautiful, slightly older woman named Clarissa Tibbits who has just moved into the house where his father committed suicide. Leah, who harbors her own romantic feelings for Martin, insists Clarissa is out of his league—that he should instead pursue someone with whom he has more in common – like her, for instance. But Martin ignores Leah’s misgivings and embarks on a relentless quest to make Clarissa fall in love with him, no matter how deadly the consequences. A lurid and disturbing portrait of pre-millennium adolescence that is not for the squeamish or faint of heart, just keep repeating:

It’s only a novel…

It’s only a novel…

It’s only a novel…