Clickbait: A Novel

by Holly Baxter Narrated by Brittany Pressley

Overview

With the dark comedy and sharp observations of Monica Heisey and Dolly Alderton, a whip-smart and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel about a disgraced, newly divorced journalist demoted to a “clickbait” job at a Manhattan tabloid.

The first thing they tell you when you begin your training is never to become the news.

Natasha has screwed up royally. Her mistake isn't just embarrassing, it's a breach of journalistic ethics that makes headlines and costs her a plum job reporting from London. Back in New York at thirty-five and single, divorced from a kind man she loved, she finds herself at the bottom of the media food chain-a junior reporter at a clickbait factory, rewriting sensational tabloid stories to make them just different enough to avoid lawsuits.

As if her professional fall from grace weren't bad enough, she's taken the money she'd saved for a down payment for a home on a charming Brooklyn block with her husband, and rashly bought a boxy apartment overlooking the gray ocean in Rockaway Beach, Queens.

Though seeing friends and family only serves to remind her of what she's lost, things begin to pick up when her ex-boyfriend Zach moves back to New York and accepts her offer of a spare bedroom. The arrangement is strictly platonic, of course-for him. But Natasha can't help but wonder whether he might be the solution to all her problems.

As Natasha's obsession with Zach grows and her involvement in increasingly dystopian ""churnalism"" deepens, her worlds threaten to collide in the most cataclysmic, extremely public way.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

06/17/2024

A disgraced New York City journalist attempts to rebuild her life in Baxter’s underwhelming debut. Natasha Bailey, 35, is on assignment in London for a profile of an Olympics-bound swimmer. Over the course of several interviews, she develops an attraction to the unnamed swimmer, who’s 15 years younger than her, and seduces him. The ensuing article, in which Natasha objectifies the swimmer’s body and alludes to their tryst, goes viral as readers question her behavior—even Sean Hannity weighs in, calling the piece an assault on masculinity. After Natasha confesses to her husband that she gave the swimmer a blowjob, he divorces her. To make matters worse, she’s demoted at her newspaper and relegated to writing “tragedy porn.” When Natasha finds out that her old boyfriend Zach is looking for a place to stay, she volunteers the second bedroom of her post-divorce condo, hoping for a rekindled romance. Unfortunately, Zach’s arrival turns out like most of her life­—not as she’d hoped. Baxter deploys plenty of well-aimed barbs at the “capitalist hellhole mainstream media,” but the unrelentingly negative and shallow Natasha remains underdeveloped. This doesn’t make much of an impression. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Aug.)

From the Publisher

"Like yelling at the movie screen, 'DON’T OPEN THAT DOOR,' you will yell at Clickbait’s fabulously flawed, smart, and entertaining Natasha as she bungles and fumbles her way through a skyrocketing and hell-plunging time in her life. This book is impossible to put down—you can’t help but root for Natasha who manages to humiliate herself from England to Rockaway and beyond." — Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane

“In this razor-sharp, darkly humorous novel, Holly Baxter draws a no-holds-barred portrait of a woman whose actions have caused her life to collapse at her feet—and charts her misguided attempts to climb out of the rubble. I laughed. I cringed. I couldn’t stop reading.” — Clémence Michallon, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant

“A dazzling and hilarious debut novel about work, love, passion and publishing. Think Bridget Jones meets Fleabag at a Manhattan tabloid.”
— Susan Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Unhooked and Five Men Who Broke My Heart

“‘Clickbait made me wince and made me howl. With a biting humor and a flair for the outrageous that is entirely her own, Holly Baxter has created an antiheroine for our times. A darkly hilarious debut that satirically captures our morally vapid media world with more accuracy than I ever thought possible. I loved it.” — Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

"This satire of media and publishing may hit a little too close to home for anyone who works in journalism—but you should definitely give this dark comedy a try either way. Baxter captures just the right blend of cringe and humor, and you won't want to look away from this train wreck." — Katie Couric Media

"Baxter's debut is a portrait of a misanthropic yet wry thirtysomething in vain trying to fix her life...She's living in a tumultuous world of her own making, and she'll have to change if she ever wants a life she can be proud of. Recommend to readers of She's a Killer, and anyone who enjoys stories of adults refusing to grow up. — Booklist

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160194448
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/13/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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