As everyone knows who has said more than ‘hello’ to me for the last six months – I LOVE Aimee Bender’s THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF LEMON CAKE. I’ve shared this love with many of you and now you are sharing it back! I am thrilled to report that Aimee debuts on the NYT bestseller list at #15 on the list dated 7/18! WooHoo!
I’m giving credit to librarians for ordering promptly and in nice big quantities. She has also made the PW, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times lists. Her tour was so well-attended that she may hit the road again in the fall.
She was plugged for summer reading on Good Morning America, in USA Today and bounded onto the IndieBound bestseller list. NPR called the book “a virtuoso performance” and O Magazine featured in “Our 26 Favorite Books of the Summer.” Earlyword gave it an early shoutout and People gave it four out of four stars. The Wall Street Journal featured it in its Summer Books “Great Expectations” article. And not to forget the star in Library Journal.
I had the pleasure of attending her event here in NYC held at Symphony Space which was packed by a large number of devoted book discussion members. The evening got off to a start with a tremendous ‘dramatic’ reading of the first two chapters by Lillo Way, performance reader and artist, followed by a conversation between Aimee and Heidi Julavits, founding editor of the Believer. The audience got to ask some great questions and then a huge line formed for the signing. This was the first time I met Aimee and I’m so pleased to say that she was just as lovely as I had hoped.
So congratulations to Aimee and congratulations to librarians for embracing this wonderful book which will live on in discussion groups for years to come. I can hardly wait to see what she’ll come up with next! Cake for everyone!
–Marcia Purcell