Chocolates for Breakfast - by Pamela Moore (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"A gem of adolescent disaffection featuring a Holden Caulfield-like heroine." -- Vogue.com

"Once I started reading it, I didn't want to stop. . . . If your all-time favorite books include works of young-adult fiction (like Catcher), I strongly urge you to take a look." -- USA Today/Pop Candy

A riveting coming-of-age classic, Chocolates for Breakfast became an international sensation upon its initial publication in 1956, and still stands out as a shocking and moving account of the way teenagers collide, often disastrously, against love and sex for the first time. This edition includes a foreword by author Emma Straub.

Courtney Farrell is a disaffected, sexually precocious fifteen-year-old. She splits her time between Manhattan, where her father works in publishing, and Los Angeles, where her mother is a still-beautiful Hollywood actress. After a boarding-school crush on a female teacher ends badly, Courtney sets out to learn everything fast. Her first drink is a very dry martini, and her first kiss the beginning of a full-blown love affair with an older man.

From the Back Cover

Courtney Farrell is a disaffected, sexually precocious fifteen-year-old. She splits her time between Manhattan, where her father works in publishing, and Los Angeles, where her mother is a still-beautiful Hollywood actress. After a boarding-school crush on a female teacher ends badly, Courtney sets out to learn everything fast. Her first drink is a very dry martini, and her first kiss the beginning of a full-blown love affair with an older man.

A riveting coming-of-age story, Chocolates for Breakfast became an international sensation upon its initial publication in 1956, and it still stands out as a shocking and moving account of the way teenagers collide, often disastrously, against love and sex for the first time.

Review Quotes

"Shocks and shocks again." - Glamour

"This book is a sexier more cosmopolitan Bell Jar--young girl, manic depression, New York, LA. It is amazing. Everyone who loves The Dud Avocado will go crazy for this novel." - Emma Straub, author of Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures

"[An] appallingly frank first novel by an extraordinarily precocious artist." - Chicago Tribune

"Not very long ago it would have been regarded as shocking to find girls in their teens reading the kind of books they're now writing." - New York Times

"Found this book long ago in my parents' library, a risqué looking paperback--and read it so many times I had to tape the pages back in. It was every naughty thing I hoped life would be like." - Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander

"Once I started reading it, I didn't want to stop, and it's certainly one of the best books I've read all year. . . . If your all-time favorite books include works of young-adult fiction (like Catcher), I strongly urge you to take a look." - USA Today/Pop Candy

"In a lot of ways, Courtney Farrell is on par with Lena Dunham's Hannah. She's learning how to live in New York City, indulging in a mindfully crafted martini or two, and engaging in affairs with older men." - Village Voice

"Timeless. . . . Will surely continue to resonate with audiences for years to come." - Publishers Weekly

"Permeated with sadness and existential longing, Chocolates for Breakfast is about the disillusionment of wealth and the desire to find something real in a society that is constantly pretending." - Los Angeles Review of Books

"A gem of adolescent disaffection featuring a Holden Caulfield-like heroine." - Vogue.com

"In Moore's resonating classic, sexually precocious 15-year-old Courtney, a bit of a female Holden Caulfield, copes with her parents' divorce and the splitting her life between New York and California. . . . It's poignant, edgy, and utterly readable." - The Atlantic Wire

"This long-overdue reprint of a scandalous 1950s coming-of-age novel chronicles the exploits of a 15-year-old girl living very much beyond her years." - San Francisco Chronicle

"In a lot of ways, Courtney Farrell is on par with Lena Dunham's Hannah. She's learning how to live in New York City, indulging in a mindfully crafted martini or two, and engaging in affairs with older men. On top of that she has the hots for her-also older-female teacher at boarding school. Consider that Farrell, the main character of Pamela Moore's Chocolates for Breakfast, is 15 years old, and that she first appeared in 1956, and suddenly the sexcapades of any given 24-year-old on Girls seem less shocking than culturally overdue. " - Village Voice

"Themes of sex, love, identity and friendship withstand time. Moore may no longer be with us, but her first novel is, rightfully, back on the shelves." - Chicago Tribune

"A coming-of-age novel of the most interesting variety. . . . Moore ultimately captures the essence of the teenage struggle to be recognized as an adult. Perhaps this is what makes the novel feel as relevant today as it did when published nearly 60 years ago, proving as shocking and important to today's world as it did in the 1950s." - Shelf Awareness

"A coming-of-age novel of the most interesting variety. . . as relevant today as it did when published nearly 60 years ago, proving as shocking and important to today's world as it did in the 1950s." - Shelf Awareness

"Charming, substantive, and smart." - The Rumpus

"Enduring edge." - Barnesandnoble.com

"A new (well, not new, but new to most of us) addition to the smart, edgy coming-of-age female lexicon. . . . Especially perfect for any too-cool Class of 2013 high school girl in your life, or someone who just is one at heart. . . . Totally unputdownable in the best way." - Jezebel