“Marcy Dermansky’s work recalls that of Alain Robbe-Grillet, pioneer of the French nouveau roman, as well as that of the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, with a soupçon of the films of Jean-Luc Godard thrown in,” writes Shelley Salamensky, reviewing  Bad Marie for the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Another round-up of recent reviews:

“Fiction just got fun again. This is an international whirlwind of a story that should land in the annals of cult classics.” –Duluth News Tribune

“Here is a book that is both literary and plot driven, humorous and heartbreaking…  a book you will not want to miss.” –Myfanwy Collins

“A very, very good novel that stars one of the most unforgettable, likable bad characters in American literature since Patrick Bateman.” — James Boice

“Tantalizing… pleasurably dark.” –The Millions

“Quite possibly the single most moving book I’ve read yet this year, and a genuine love story.” –Guerilla Geek

Timothy McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, the online outlet of Dave Eggers’ literary journal McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, added Bad Marie to their ongoing list of “recommended things.” Marcy’s story “Cow Juice” appeared in McSweeney’s issue 4. Here’s what they had to say about Bad Marie:

When you pick up this book, make sure you’ve left yourself enough time to read it in its entirety because there’s no putting it down. The most seductive first person narration we’ve read in a long time.

For their latest issue, Esquire collects cultural offerings “that make this glorious season more bearable than it otherwise would be.” Bad Marie made the list.

Dermansky is funny and fearless. I like Marie so much because she seems to care so little whether I like her or not. That’s a working definition of badass. Bad Marie is one.

Bloggers keep spreading the word about Bad Marie. Here’s the latest batch of rave reviews.  Previously.

“More happens in the first fifty pages of Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky than in entire novels I’ve read this year. It’s the lightning speed of the story that makes this book so damn hard to put down.” — Jodi Chromey

“A fast and fun read.” – Tattered Cover Book Blog

“Fascinating and wonderful, and huge kudos to Marcy Dermansky for making Marie so sympathetic.” — Reading and Ruminations

“Settle down with a glass of cava and chocolate truffles for this one—because it will make you want to indulge yourself—and savor the exquisitely heady and edgy world of bad, bad, bad Marie.” — The Barcelona Review

“Marcy Dermansky has crafted a character in Marie that is the best kind of magnetic–you want to slap her (as her employer does at one point) and go out for tequila shots with her at the same time.” –Gutenberg Girls

“Fiction just got fun again, friends… Bad Marie makes for a fantastic cult classic. Something passed along between friends and raved about in dark booths of Chinese Restaurants. Our little secret.” — Minnesota Reads

“A riotous ride.” — Read All Day

“Incredibly well-written and captivating.” — The Betty and Boo Chronicles

“Fascinating.” — Beth Fish Reads

Kylee Stoor reviewed Bad Marie for Bookslut, “a monthly web magazine and daily blog dedicated to those who love to read.” She says:

[Bad Marie leaves] the reader the freedom to analyze Marie as they see fit, or simply to read the story in the simple, hedonistic way Marie lives. Either way, the book is delightfully dark and surprisingly deep, perfect for curling up with as the days get shorter.

Read the review.

In his review for Creative Loafing Charlotte, John Grooms raves that “[Dermansky] gambled on an ‘unlikable narrator’, and luckily for readers, hit the jackpot.” He says:

Marie and the novel named after her are, in a sense, subversive — because, in the end, this tale of thoughtless waste and destruction also happens to be the story of a lost soul trying with all her might to find somewhere she can be happy, no matter the cost. Dermansky’s novel is nothing if not captivating.

Read the entire review.

At the “Internet literature magazine of the future,” Roxane Gay reviews Bad Marie:

One of the most witty, twisted, and even heartbreaking stories I’ve read in a long time… The book is tragic and sexy and hilarious and the story itself is expertly paced–I read the book in one sitting and did not want it to end. Bad Marie is about many things but at the heart of the novel, for me, was the story of a woman trying to find a home for herself no matter the cost.

After two previous installments, here is the latest praise for Bad Marie from around the web:

“Oddly and completely compelling. Dermansky’s prose is purposeful and eloquent.” –The Book Fetish

“Unpredictable and unusual.” –Daemon’s Books

“Go out and pick up a copy of Bad Marie now.  You won’t regret it.” –Jenn’s Bookshelves

“Go pick up a copy and get comfortable because you won’t be able to put it down.” –My Books. My Life.

“I tore through Bad Marie and loved every minute of it.” –The Book Lady’s Blog

“Amazing. You should go get this book immediately so you can let it kick you in the face.” –HTMLGIANT

“Hilarious and gleefully unrepentant.” –The Rejectionist

Blog reviewers love Bad Marie. Here’s another roundup of raves:

“Sexually raw and unflinching, Bad Marie is a provocative, seductive work by a fiercely talented writer.”  – The Current Reader

“An utterly delightful gobble of a book.” — Fernham

“It’s nearly impossible not to get sucked into [the] story.” — Daemon’s Books

“Bad Marie is funny, poignant, a little naughty, a little dark, and completely unputdownable. An utterly compelling read.” — In Spring It Is the Dawn

“Highly recommended!!” – Jordan Hoffman

“[A] gem of a novel.” — My Novel Reviews

“Loved to hate this drunken kidnapping hedonistic ex-con bad girl.” — iEATbooks

“I LOVED it from the first line [...] to the last! I didn’t want it to end. Read it!” — Karyn Bosnak

“Dermansky has excelled in writing  a mesmerizing character study and unrelenting page turner all at the same time.” — Linus’s Blanket

Newsday, “the Long Island and New York City News Source,” reviewed Bad Marie in today’s print edition. Marion Winik writes:

A page-turning melodrama told with chilled cosmopolitan irony, the moral
puzzles at the heart of “Bad Marie” linger after the delicious meringue
of the book has been consumed. Cool trick, Ms. Dermansky.

Read the entire review.