"One of the best, most evocative titles of the release season." -- The Millions "Gripping and gloriously written . Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls , a memoir from the literary essayist T Kira Madden, is a searing, vivid, and deeply thoughtful take on growing up in a turbulent family in Boca Raton, Florida" -- Elle "Gorgeous . [Madden''s] story is filled with desire and loss, love and forgiveness, and it''s an utterly unforgettable debut." -- NYLON "Madden, ''a writer, photographer, and amateur magician,'' pulls a rabbit out of her hat and turns her life into art in this gorgeous reckoning" -- Washington Post, "Best Books of the Month" "Madden brings her sharply funny voice to her new book, which humanely explores her coming of age as a biracial queer teenager in Boca Raton, Florida, and the climate of abuse and addiction that surrounded her." -- Entertainment Weekly, "Most Anticipated Books of 2019" "The literary equivalent of sucking on a Warhead: at once nostalgically sweet, stingingly sour, and unnervingly satisfying. Set mostly against the helter-skelter backdrop of Boca Raton-a place of both privilege and immense squalor-these vignettes acutely capture the grit of girlhood" -- Oprah Magazine " Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is a deeply compassionate book, though not an apologetic one. In baring the bad and ugly alongside the good, Madden has succeeded in creating a mirror of larger concerns, even as her own story is achingly specific and personal.
" - NPR.org "Truly stunning . Not many memoirs can get away with calling themselves page-turners, but T Kira Madden''s sure AF can" -- Cosmopolitan "A dizzying and dazzling coming-of-age story, Long Live The Tribe of Fatherless Girls is a story as hard to shake as glitter . [Madden] writes of that longing for unique personhood, but also of family, of death, of grief, of love." -- Bustle "Harrowing and sad and funny and beautifully written. [ Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls ] inspires rage and also care. I keep stopping to admire sentences, word choices, deft slips in time." -- Emily Temple, Lit Hub, "Lit Hub Recommends" "Very much looking forward to everyone getting to read T Kira Madden''s Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls this March (it''s a stunner).
" -- Kristen Arnett, Refinery29 "I''ve been excited to read T Kira Madden''s Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls ever since I first heard her read last spring." - R.O. Kwon, Electric Literature "Madden is magic . she uses language new and strange but always devastatingly right." -- Spencer Quong, The Paris Review "Haunting and profound" -- Arianna Rebolini, BuzzFeed "A riveting and deeply personal work that captures the loneliness and desperation of a girl coming to terms with her individuality and the shortcomings of her own family." -- The Advocate "Easily one of the best memoirs of the last decade . Gorgeous on the sentence level and flat out breathtaking as a whole.
[ Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls ] is a read-it-all-the-way-though-in-a-single-night kinda memoir. You will love this book." -- Lit Hub - Best of the Month "One of my favorite reads in recent years. Madden''s prose is sharp, lyrical, and gut-hitting, made up of sentences I want to read over and over again." -- Hyphen Magazine "Madden writes about the dangers of growing up in a toxically wealthy environment with such clarity and lyricism." -- Books Are Magic, "Most Anticipated Books of 2019" "A Gorgeously written debut . Exquisitely captures the pain of growing up . Read if you''re into: memoirs, family stories .
actually I don''t care what you''re into you should read this" -- Alma, "Favorite Books for Spring 2019" "A deeply courageous work that chronicles one artist''s jagged-and surprisingly beautiful-path to wholeness. Affecting, fearless, and unsparingly honest." -- Kirkus "A tale of an artist''s journey that showcases the coexistence of familial love and complication with such shattering grace, understatement, and openness" - Booklist (starred review), "Best New Books" "Necessary . Madden weaves together an utterly human paean to belonging, to healing, and to loving and being loved." -- BookPage "A particular must-read for queer humans--T Kira is one of us, and her story of how she comes to her queerness, her self, and ultimately her belonging on this earth is one that I think every queer person will feel deep inside their heart. I know I did, and I am grateful." -- Autostraddle "A memoir this fearless is bound to change readers'' lives . In a series of emotionally honest and incisive essays, Madden describes what it took to survive this journey ''out.
'' She turns her strange childhood into a page turner" -- Refinery 29, "Best Books of March" "Harrowing and beautiful. What seems most miraculous about Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is the way T Kira Madden forges out of such achingly difficult material a memoir as frank and funny and powerful and surprising as this, her utterly gorgeous debut . " -- Lauren Groff, author of FLORIDA and FATES AND FURIES " Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is sad, funny, juicy and prickly with deep and secret thoughtful places. It is raucous and poignant at once and I recommend it highly." -- Mary Gaitskill, author of THE MARE and SOMEBODY WITH A LITTLE HAMMER "Madden has come to break your heart open : to crack your heart wide, to spill out the heart''s grief and pain so she can fill it back up with joy and beauty and love." -- Matt Bell, author of SCRAPPER "I''ve never read such a gorgeous and raw depiction of girlhood, the terrible vulnerability of adolescence, and the humiliation that often goes hand in hand with desire. Madden is fearless about diving deep into the darkest aspects of herself and her past, and that''s what makes her work riveting and urgent. An absolutely necessary book.
" -- Julie Buntin, author of MARLENA "This open, defiant memoir is the long-awaited daughter of Dorothy Allison''s Bastard Out of Carolina . Madden captures the dangers and longings of a perilous girlhood with prose so vivid and sensuous we feel her past in our bodies. A mesmerizing piece of art I won''t soon forget." -- Claire Vaye Watkins, author of GOLD FAME CITRUS AND BATTLEBORN "T Kira Madden is an acute observer of her family, her environment, and her own mind, and is generous despite--or perhaps because of--what she''s endured. Her bleeding, gorgeous prose will get under your skin and leave you aching in love. Her first book is a triumph." -- Sarah Gerard, author of SUNSHINE STATE " Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls reminds us beautifully that we are unshielded, that we are blessed with life only by a narrow and undecipherable margin. This book has grit and a feisty elegance I love, and I love the mess and tenderness here of being and having been a girl.
" -- Noy Holland, author of I WAS TRYING TO DESCRIBE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE "Madden''s prose will hypnotize you as it wrings every drop of beauty out of her story. If you''ve ever known the predicament of having a magical and messy family, a female body, or the mixed blessing of a big heart and a keen mind in a troubled world, then you need this book as much as I did." -- Melissa Febos, author of WHIP SMART AND ABANDON ME "What are the ties that bind us, the events that shape us? In this beautiful memoir T Kira Madden confronts these questions, unflinchingly, with breath-taking honesty. Reminiscent of The Glass Castle , her unique vision and voice take us into the depths of her astonishing experience." -- Mary Morris, author of THE JAZZ PALACE and GATEWAY TO THE MOON " Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is a wrenching story of longing, loss, and extraordinary coincidence-a debut act of courage and ferocious beauty from a formidable new talent." -- Kimberly King Parsons, author of BLACK LIGHT "Madden perfectly captures the ache of a child trying to find her place. You may not be a competitive equestrian, a Floridian, or the mixed race child of two parents who struggle with addiction; you may have never fallen in love with another woman; but everyone who has ever longed for more love will understand." -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of HARMLESS LIKE YOU " Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is a triumph.
It''s for anyone reading late into the night wondering, will I survive this? T Kira Madden tells us, as only she can, that the answer is yes. It''s a journey through the dark heart of family love and the cosmic mystery of queer youth and you don''t want to miss it." -- Genevieve Hudson, author of A LITTLE IN LOVE WITH EVERYONE "This book is a dark powerhouse of yearning and reckoning that reminds us all of the girl we''ve spent our lives trying to grow out of--and all the ways we punish her for sticking around." -- Tatiana Ryckman, author of I DON''T THINK OF YOU (UNTIL I DO) "I loved this book for its big-hearted, aching renderings of sexuality, addiction, and family, for its exquisite attentiveness, and in the end for its hope that a family can grow to embrace all it''s been and might become." -- Kristin Dombek, author of THE SELFISHNESS OF OTHERS "A vivid portrait of queer awakening set against the devastating backdrop of addiction, loss, and, ultimately, triumphant reclamation. I finished this book blinded by tears and a deep appreciation for Madden''s undeniable talent.