This offbeat novel combines the heart and wit of Sorrow and Bliss with the joy and touch of surrealism in Schitts Creek. It is the funniest book you will read in 2023.
Big Swiss. That's Greta's nickname for her - she is tall, and she is from Switzerland. Greta can see her now: dressed top to toe in white, that adorable gap between her two front teeth, her penetrating blue eyes. She's a head-turner: including the heads of infants and dogs.
Well that's how Greta imagines seeing her; they haven't actually ever met in person. Nor has Greta actually ever been to Switzerland.
Greta and Big Swiss are not in the same room, or even the same building. Greta is miles away, sitting at a desk in her own house, wearing only headphones, fingerless gloves, a kimono, and legwarmers, transcribing this disembodied voice.
What Greta doesn't know is that she's about to bump into Big Swiss in the local dog park. A new - and not entirely honest - relationship is going to be born.
A relationship that will transform both of their lives. . .
About the Author
Big Swiss is Jen's third novel. Pretend I'm Dead and Vacuum in the Dark (shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize) were published by Scribner US and Oneworld in the UK to wide critical acclaim. Jen Beagin holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine. In 2017, she was awarded a prestigious Whiting Award for her debut novel Pretend I'm Dead. She lives in New York.
Industry Reviews
'The voice is sharp, the plot is compelling, the jokes are funny and sometimes startling, as the very best comedy is... Every page is packed with good jokes, keen observations and idiosyncratically wonderful prose... It made my brain do interesting, uncomfortable things and left me questioning my beliefs about attraction, grief, how recovery works, and a dozen other fundamental things' - Sandra Newman, Guardian
'Incredible book. I couldn't put it down.' - JODIE COMER
'Utterly addictive. I laughed so hard it ached.' - GILLIAN ANDERSON
'Made me laugh and think too much (the right amount?) about sex and death and honesty.' - MONICA HEISEY
'Juicy, salacious and compelling.' - SARA PASCOE
'One of the funniest books of the last few years.' - LA TIMES
'Big Swiss is a dark party.' - MELISSA BRODER
'Brilliantly funny.' - SUNDAY TIMES
'This is a funny, sex-filled, entertaining read celebrating women in ways you can't miss.' - Francesca Brown, Stylist
'By turns funny, eccentric and raunchy.' - Helen Whitaker, Grazia