Leslie Stella: author of Unimaginable Zero Summer, The Easy Hour, and Fat Bald Jeff

Leslie Stella is the author of three novels, Unimaginable Zero Summer, The Easy Hour, and Fat Bald Jeff,
and was a founding editor of Lumpen magazine. Her work has been published in The Mississippi Review,
The Adirondack Review, Bust, Easy Listener, and anthologized in The Book of Zines (Henry Holt, 1997).
She has been nominated for a 2004 Pushcart Prize in short fiction.

photo courtesy Marquette University

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Leslie's third novel, Unimaginable Zero Summer (from Three Rivers Press), offers a cynical, hilarious glimpse into the lives of seven losers over one lousy summer as they gear up for their high school reunion. Can an angry karaoke jockey, an urban shaman, a culture-junking clerk, and a few depressed cube dwellers spin fifteen years of failure and humiliation into success?

PRAISE FOR UNIMAGINABLE ZERO SUMMER

"Witty, modern bullets... a Chicago 'Big Chill'."
—New City Chicago

"Funny, a moving portrait... Stella unfolds this story masterfully."
—Philadelphia Inquirer

"A premise ripe for comedy and pathos, and Stella doesn't disappoint."
—Chicago Reader

"Hilarious... refreshing... laugh-out-loud. Subtle in its storytelling, it's a story that will appeal to any working adult who can't stop staring at the clock."
—Time Out Chicago

"Uncompromising, darkly comical, and insightful."
—Laura Caldwell, author of Burning the Map and Look Closely

"Quirky characters, a wicked sense of humor, and razor-sharp writing."
—Jennifer O'Connell, author of Dress Rehearsal and Off the Record

Fat Bald Jeff (Grove Press, 2001) is a comedy about a disaffected copyeditor and her accomplice, a disgruntled tech-support guy, who together set in motion the ultimate plan to sabotage their workplace.

The Easy Hour (Three Rivers Press, 2003) chronicles the escapades of a working-class girl turned personal assistant to Chicago's most infamous socialite—and the mayhem she unleashes on a gullible public.

PRAISE FOR FAT BALD JEFF

"Satirical... Smart... Freshly imagined fun."
—San Francisco Chronicle

"[T]his winter... the best title in the bunch is Fat Bald Jeff."
—Los Angeles Times

"Contagious vibrancy."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Hilarious."
—Philadelphia Weekly

"A must-read. Fresh, fast-paced and laugh-out-loud funny."
—OnMilwaukee.com