Vacuum in the Dark

From the Whiting Award-winning author of Pretend I’m Dead comes a new hilarious, edgy, and brilliant one-of-a kind novel, for fans of Sally Rooney and Joshua Ferris

'This novel is a joy: truly laugh-out-loud funny, while staying grounded and dignified.'

'By turns nutty and forlorn... Brash, deadpan, and achingly troubled, Mona emerges as that problematic friend you’re nonetheless always thrilled to see.'

'Beagin's attention to interiors and dialogue is impressive and she manages to capture the intimate portraits of her characters with deft skill... For fans of Jade Sharma and Ottessa Moshfegh.'

‘We all have a companion voice in our heads. Never more so when life is unpleasant but we can't really change anything. How lucky we'd be if that voice was Jen Beagin's. Honest (sometimes brutal), compassionate and always able to pick out what's funny in the darkest spot. Vacuum in the Dark had me grinning in recognition and laughing even as I winced.’

'Revels in both order and transgression... Stands alone beautifully... Mona's unforgettably wry voice remains throughout.'

'Energetic... These adventures open up into larger questions of Mona's own stalled artistic ambitions and a reckoning with her estranged mother – issues refracted with black humor and a sense of timing that rarely slackens... The escapades are underpinned by a strong voice that seems to have seen everyone's worst, and to have nothing left to conceal.'

‘Wildly exuberant...a comic novel that's a joy to read but never frivolous or superficial. Beagin is unafraid to take risks, and they all pay off here — Vacuum in the Dark is an excellent book by a writer with a singular voice.’

‘Beagin stands out among fiction’s fresh crop of promising voices: Her prose is dry, cutting, and genuinely funny; she loves writing about strange people, an affection which translates in characterizations that stay sharp and peculiar without ever turning cruel.’

'Inventing situations and conversations that are off-the-charts in both weirdness and relatability, Beagin fashions an enchantingly intriguing main character in unfiltered, warmhearted Mona. This story of a woman embracing life's what-ifs and her own darkness is a great read.'

'Tremendously engaging... Funny and poignant... Beagin secures her position as a new writer to watch.'

'Piquantly amusing... Weird, darkly funny...sharply drawn, sexually charged, wry with Mona's deadpan wit.'

'An unforgettable story from one of the freshest literary voices today.'

'Beagin pulls no punches – this novel is viciously smart and morbidly funny.'

'Beagin introduces readers to several recurring characters whose quirkiness infuses the book with its humour and drawing power.'

Jen Beagin holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine, and has published stories in Juked and Faultline , among other journals and literary magazines. In 2017, she was awarded a prestigious Whiting Award for her debut novel Pretend I'm Dead . She lives in New York.