kit reed
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 Kit Reed's The Night Children is scheduled for publication in 2008, to be followed by Enclave early in 2009. Her most recent novel,The Baby Merchant, is about the man who will do anything for a couple that wants a baby-- for a price. With Thinner Than Thou a winner of the A.L.A. Alex Award, and her collection, Dogs of Truth, it is now available in trade paperback. The New York Times Book Review has this to say about her work: "Most of these stories shine with the incisive edginess of brilliant cartoons... they are less fantastic than visionary." Other novels include @ A member of the board of the Authors League Fund, she serves as Resident Writer at Wesleyan University. |
More on The Baby Merchant
"Reed writes a fast-paced thriller with a consummate sense of style." --A.L.A. Booklist
"In Starbird, she fashions a unique antagonist, a damaged man who has compartmentalized himself away from most human emotions and who is surprised when his walls are breached. By the time the novel's climax arrives, Reed has orchestrated the central conflict for maximum impact, and the rightness of its ending distinguishes "The Baby Merchant" as one of the most satisfying thrillers -- science fiction or otherwise -- of the season." --The San Francisco Chronicle
"Reed's books often prickle with satire, and The Baby Merchant is no exception. While her characters are driven by dreams of idealized parent-child relationships, she is slyly showing us the real thing, from the reality-show-ready screaming matches between Sasha's friend Marilyn and her son, to Sasha's and Tom's deeply dysfunctional families. And our current obsessions about Homeland Security get a creepy twist: microchips implanted in the soft spot in every newborn's head.
But The Baby Merchant is first and last a smart, sometimes startling thriller, graced with an interesting bad guy and with Sasha, whose metamorphosis from self-absorbed student to panicky single mom to avenging mother tiger powers the story. --The St. Petersburg Times
"That's why Tom Starbird in Kit Reed's newest novel, The Baby Merchant, is such a compelling character. A sort of modern Robin Hood, Starbird steals babies from those who don't want them and sells them -- for a price of a Lamborghini -- to couples he deems worthy... Readers will find themselves engrossed in a real page-turner that will spur them to question whether attaining a baby is what these characters are really seeking.-- The Chicago Sun-Times
"In Starbird, she fashions a unique antagonist, a damaged man who has compartmentalized himself away from most human emotions and who is surprised when his walls are breached. By the time the novel's climax arrives, Reed has orchestrated the central conflict for maximum impact, and the rightness of its ending distinguishes "The Baby Merchant" as one of the most satisfying thrillers -- science fiction or otherwise -- of the season." --The San Francisco Chronicle
"Reed's books often prickle with satire, and The Baby Merchant is no exception. While her characters are driven by dreams of idealized parent-child relationships, she is slyly showing us the real thing, from the reality-show-ready screaming matches between Sasha's friend Marilyn and her son, to Sasha's and Tom's deeply dysfunctional families. And our current obsessions about Homeland Security get a creepy twist: microchips implanted in the soft spot in every newborn's head.
But The Baby Merchant is first and last a smart, sometimes startling thriller, graced with an interesting bad guy and with Sasha, whose metamorphosis from self-absorbed student to panicky single mom to avenging mother tiger powers the story. --The St. Petersburg Times
"That's why Tom Starbird in Kit Reed's newest novel, The Baby Merchant, is such a compelling character. A sort of modern Robin Hood, Starbird steals babies from those who don't want them and sells them -- for a price of a Lamborghini -- to couples he deems worthy... Readers will find themselves engrossed in a real page-turner that will spur them to question whether attaining a baby is what these characters are really seeking.-- The Chicago Sun-Times
About Dogs of Truth
The New York Times Book Review:
"When a short story collection starts with a 90-year old Salman Rushdie being attacked by an ancient assassin as he throws out a ceremonial opening ball at Yankee Stadium (now a monstroplex shopping mall owned by the Sultan of Brunei), you know you're dealing with a feverishly creative mind. The author of the well-received short fiction collection 'Weird Women, Wired Women,' Reed has a prose style that's pure dry ice, displayed in dystopian stories that specialize in bitterness and dislocation. 'Into the Jungle' follows a housewife as she trades her family for a fresh start in the South American rainforest. 'Escape from Shark Island,' told from the point of view of a 16-year-old who still shares a bed with her three siblings and her parents, examines the extremely dark side of certain aspects of child rearing. 'High Rise High' details high school riot 'worse than Attica,' punctuated by a 'monster prom that puts the arm on Armageddon.' In other stories, residents of a gated community drive around in the night searching for their houses, a demented soap opera fan becomes psychotically attached to one of the show's stars and a senile soldier spends years shouting from his nursing home bed. It's enough to make you want to move to Lake Oswego."
"With all due respect to sunshine, flowers, butterflies and the author's mother, it's a blessing that Reed... chose a psychologically dense, dangerous and darkly amusing path."
"Reed's humor is as sharp and cool as the edge of an icicle. These Dogs of Truth have bite."
"Readers seeking perfectly crafted stories that feature unusual characters, wild ideas and heavy doses of weirdness will love this collection. Brilliant on all levels, many of these stories are worthy of awards. Highly recommended."
"When a short story collection starts with a 90-year old Salman Rushdie being attacked by an ancient assassin as he throws out a ceremonial opening ball at Yankee Stadium (now a monstroplex shopping mall owned by the Sultan of Brunei), you know you're dealing with a feverishly creative mind. The author of the well-received short fiction collection 'Weird Women, Wired Women,' Reed has a prose style that's pure dry ice, displayed in dystopian stories that specialize in bitterness and dislocation. 'Into the Jungle' follows a housewife as she trades her family for a fresh start in the South American rainforest. 'Escape from Shark Island,' told from the point of view of a 16-year-old who still shares a bed with her three siblings and her parents, examines the extremely dark side of certain aspects of child rearing. 'High Rise High' details high school riot 'worse than Attica,' punctuated by a 'monster prom that puts the arm on Armageddon.' In other stories, residents of a gated community drive around in the night searching for their houses, a demented soap opera fan becomes psychotically attached to one of the show's stars and a senile soldier spends years shouting from his nursing home bed. It's enough to make you want to move to Lake Oswego."
"With all due respect to sunshine, flowers, butterflies and the author's mother, it's a blessing that Reed... chose a psychologically dense, dangerous and darkly amusing path."
--Hartford Courant
"Reed's humor is as sharp and cool as the edge of an icicle. These Dogs of Truth have bite."
--St. Petersburg Times
"Readers seeking perfectly crafted stories that feature unusual characters, wild ideas and heavy doses of weirdness will love this collection. Brilliant on all levels, many of these stories are worthy of awards. Highly recommended."
--scifi.com
About Thinner Than Thou
*Publishers Weekly: "Reed (@expectations) rips into the dangerous pursuit of body perfection at the expense of the soul in this stinging and mordantly witty satire... A cast of delicious characters, caught like insects in day-glo amber, features bewildered twin teens Betz and Danny Abercrombie... With this sharp-eyed look at America's obsession with image, Reed provides much food for thought and reaffirms her position as one of our brightest cultural commentators."
Kirkus calls Kit Reed's Thinner Than Thou "Unsettling, sometimes appalling: satire edging remorselessly toward reality."
People Magazine says this about Thinner Than Thou: "With an ear for dialogue and a truly wild imagination, Reed (author of Seven for the Apocalypse) populates her scary book with believable characters including Annie Abercrombie, an anorexic teenager taken hostage by the nuns, and Kelly, the obese friend also targeted by the better-bod squad. A clever what-if, Reed's tale is provocative as well as amusing."
* An A.L.A. Booklist Book of the Year
Winner of the A.L.A. Alex award
Winner of the A.L.A. Alex award
In a starred review of Thinner Than Thou, the reviewer for Booklist says, "Reed's visionary tale is brilliant, though at times painful to read."
Recent Short Fiction
Visiting The Dead in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 2003,
Missing Sam in The Yale Review, October, 2002
The Last Big Sin at scifi.com, May, 2002
Captive Kong in Redshift, December, 2001
Missing Sam in The Yale Review, October, 2002
The Last Big Sin at scifi.com, May, 2002
Captive Kong in Redshift, December, 2001
Online Life
At Wesleyan, Kit Reed meets student writers in The Memory Palace at StoryMOO, the virtual community she established as a venue for StoryFirst Online, her pioneering electronic venture. She works with undergraduates who want to write short fiction. Writers come to StoryMOO to discuss their short stories in a real-time, online workshop.
When you have been dead and buried
Many things worry you
but nothing frightens you.
Many things worry you
but nothing frightens you.
--"The Singing Marine"
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