Astonish Me - (Vintage Contemporaries) by Maggie Shipstead (Paperback)

About the Book

"From the author of the widely acclaimed debut novel Seating Arrangements, winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize: a gorgeously written, fiercely compelling glimpse into the passionate, political world of professional ballet and its magnetic hold over two generations. Astonish Me is the irresistible story of Joan, a ballerina whose life has been shaped by her relationship with the world-famous dancer Arslan Ruskov, whom she helps defect from the Soviet Union to the U.S. While Arslan's career takes off in New York, Joan's slowly declines, ending when she becomes pregnant and decides to marry her longtime admirer, a PhD student named Jacob. As the years pass, Joan settles into her new life in California, teaching dance and watching her son, Harry, become a ballet prodigy himself. But when Harry's success brings him into close contact with Arslan, explosive secrets are revealed that shatter the delicate balance Joan has struck between her past and present. In graceful, inimitable prose, Shipstead draws us into the lives of her lovably tempestuous characters. Filled with intrigue, hilarious satire, and emotional nuance, Astonish Me is a brilliant investigation into the bonds that hold us, despite the distancing of time and geography"--

Book Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of Great Circle comes "a novel you must read" (The Washington Post) about a mother who is trying to forget her past as a young ballerina in Paris who fell into a passionate romance with a Soviet dance superstar.

For years Joan has been trying to find peace and satisfaction in her role as wife and mother. Few in her drowsy California suburb know her thrilling history: as a young American ballerina in Paris, she had a doomed affair with Soviet dance superstar Arslan Rusakov.

After playing a leading role in his celebrated defection, Joan bowed out of the spotlight for good, heartbroken by Arslan and humbled by her own modest career. But when her son turns out to be a ballet prodigy, Joan is pulled back into a world she thought she'd left behind--a world of dangerous secrets, of Arslan, and of longing for what will always be just out of reach.

"The inner lives of [Shipstead's] characters feel as real and immediate as the shifting settings they inhabit: still-gritty mid-1970s Manhattan, shabbily elegant Paris, the sunbaked suburban sprawl of Southern California." --Entertainment Weekly

Review Quotes

"So dazzling, so sure-handed and fearless, that at times I had to remind myself to breathe." --Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

"A novel you must read." --The Washington Post

"I will be paying close attention to Shipstead's career from here on in." --Jeffrey Eugenides

"A breathtaking work of art." --O, The Oprah Magazine

"Precise.... Flawless.... Transcendent." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR

"A grand arabesque into the world of dance. . . . Thrilling." --Time

"Electrifying. . . . Astonish Me shines." --San Francisco Chronicle

"The inner lives of [Shipstead's] characters feel as real and immediate as the shifting settings they inhabit: still-gritty mid-1970s Manhattan, shabbily elegant Paris, the sunbaked suburban sprawl of Southern California. . . . Shipstead's youth may be a talking point, but her talent transcends it. She's astonishing." --Entertainment Weekly

"Seamless and full of small elegances . . . Lovely. . . . Reading Astonish Me, I didn't need to be astonished. I was happy." --Annalisa Quinn, NPR

"A searing rumination on insecurity, secrecy, and friendship. . . . Shipstead nails the details of being perpetually en pointe" --O, The Oprah Magazine

"Maggie Shipstead takes hold of the reader and doesn't let go. Astonish Me is a haunting, powerful novel." --Dani Shapiro

"Sardonic and insightful. . . . [Shipstead] does caustic humor, simmering hostilities, and social envy well." --New York Times Book Review

"Deeply engrossing . . . [A] thoughtful meditation on the relentless pursuit of perfection and just how far we're willing to go for love." --BookPage

"A bravura display of high-performance art, the only constant its quest for perfection." --The Guardian (London)

"The emotionally nuanced tale of barre-crossed lovers and the majestic, mysterious world of professional dance. A supple, daring, and vivid portrait of desire and betrayal." --Booklist (starred review)

"Shipstead's insights into human nature take center stage. The story's surprisingly satisfying outcome encourages us to accept imperfection and even take refuge in doing so." --Nylon Magazine

"Bold and thrilling. . . The way the characters come together in new and surprising pairings is one of the book's many pleasures." --Boston Globe

"Full of delights. . . . Maggie Shipstead is a writer to watch." --The Washington Times

"Impressively sure-footed." --Elle

"Sharp and memorable . . . Full of the kind of keen observations about people and relationships that made her first book, Seating Arrangements, one of 2012's most delightful literary surprises." --San Diego Union-Tribune

"Exhilarating." --Columbus Dispatch

"Spans continents, decades, and generations . . . . A total pleasure to read." --The Rumpus

About the Author

MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a former Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her first novel, Seating Arrangements, was a New York Times best seller, a finalist for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, and the winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction.