{"product_id":"9781250128508","title":"The Parking Lot Attendant : A Novel","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Parking Lot Attendant\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Nafkote Tamirat\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003eShortlisted for the Center For Fiction First Novel Prize\u003cbr\u003eNamed a \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA mesmerizing, indelible coming-of-age story about a girl in Boston's tightly-knit Ethiopian community who falls under the spell of a charismatic hustler out to change the world\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA haunting story of fatherhood, national identity, and what it means to be an immigrant in America today, Nafkote Tamirat's \u003ci\u003eThe Parking Lot Attendant \u003c\/i\u003eexplores how who we love, the choices we make, and the places we’re from combine to make us who we are.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe story begins on an undisclosed island where the unnamed narrator and her father are the two newest and least liked members of a commune that has taken up residence there. Though the commune was built on utopian principles, it quickly becomes clear that life here is not as harmonious as the founders intended. After immersing us in life on the island, our young heroine takes us back to Boston to recount the events that brought her here. Though she and her father belong to a wide Ethiopian network in the city, they mostly keep to themselves, which is how her father prefers it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis detached existence only makes Ayale’s arrival on the scene more intoxicating. The unofficial king of Boston’s Ethiopian community, Ayale is a born hustler—when he turns his attention to the narrator, she feels seen for the first time. Ostensibly a parking lot attendant, Ayale soon proves to have other projects in the works, which the narrator becomes more and more entangled in to her father’s growing dismay. By the time the scope of Ayale’s schemes—and their repercussions—become apparent, our narrator has unwittingly become complicit in something much bigger and darker than she ever imagined.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Bold and original.\" --\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Dazzling.\" \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e--O, the Oprah Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Captivating\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e --Marie Claire \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Impressive\"\u003cb\u003e --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \"100 Notable Books of 2018\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Tamirat is an extremely talented writer. Her prose is sharp, incisive, and often very funny. There are dazzling passages...Tamirat's strain of absurdism is delightfully reminiscent of both Kafka and Jonathan Lethem.\"\u003cb\u003e --Emily St. John Mandel, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Tamirat’s calmly assured voice grounds her story in refreshing understatement.\"\u003cb\u003e--Janet Maslin, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"[Tamirat] deftly intermixes genres in her highly unusual migration story...Her tale of uprootedness nods to familiar themes—the quest for status and a sense of belonging, tensions between family ties and personal agency, the fraught search for identity. But Tamirat feels free to cut across boundaries, blending surreal suspense with psychological realism.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ms. Tamirat has reason to be confident. When her novel is good, it’s very good indeed.\" \u003cb\u003e--Sam Sacks, \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[An] enjoyable debut...Tamirat wonderfully captures her narrator’s teenage capriciousness, particularly in her feelings for Ayale, which slew between idolatry, infatuation, anger and disgust.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eAM New York\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A worthwhile and spooky read...  it's a captivating story, and we come to care deeply for the unnamed narrator, a lonely, brave teenage girl who falls under the spell of a charming, mysteriously rich parking lot attendant named Ayale.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Star Tribune (Minneapolis)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An unsettling, inventive debut novel...On the level of both prose and story, \u003ci\u003eThe Parking Lot Attendant\u003c\/i\u003e feels startling and new.” \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eElectric Literature\u003c\/i\u003e, 46 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2018\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A searing novel about identity in America today.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBook Riot\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"This debut novel contains multitudes.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBustle\u003c\/i\u003e, 11 New Books by Women of Color Everyone Needs to Read in 2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Engrossing.\" \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Southern Living\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Elegant...articulate and graceful... This immersive style of Tamirat’s writing is enthralling from the beginning to the end.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Harvard Crimson\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Immersive, relevant, and utterly engrossing. This is a first effort from a fascinating artist determined to remind us that while easy answers may exist, they are fraught with a sort of peril to be avoided at all costs. . .It is fairly astounding just how gracefully a very small, very personal story turns into something much bigger.\"   \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003ePop Matters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Tamirat’s wonderful debut novel weaves growing pains, immigrant troubles, and moments of biting humor. . . .[a] riveting coming-of-age story full of murky motives, deep emotion, and memorable characters.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Mysterious and steadily exciting...Tamirat’s razor-sharp prose fashions a magnificently dimensional and emotionally resonant narrator, herself a storyteller who frames her own tale with beguiling skill. This debut is remarkable in every way.\" \u003cb\u003e--Booklist (starred) \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Captivating for both its unusual detail and observant take on teenage trust. Curious and delightful.\" \u003cb\u003e--Kirkus\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A fine addition to immigrant literature that also manages to become a page-turning thriller that brings to mind such masterpieces as Chang-rae Lee's \u003ci\u003eNative Speaker\u003c\/i\u003e.\" \u003cb\u003e--Gary Shteyngart, author of \u003ci\u003eSuper Sad True Love Story\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Nafkote Tamirat is a wonderful writer -- generous and funny, intelligent and astute -- and \u003ci\u003eThe Parking Lot Attendant \u003c\/i\u003eis a spectacularly smart and moving novel I couldn't put down. A fantastic debut by a writer with talent in spades.\"  \u003cb\u003e--Molly Antopol, author of \u003ci\u003eThe UnAmericans\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What does a girl do with parents who continually disappoint, with the desire to know a country that has made her, but she has never seen, with the overtures of a magnetic stranger, with her own haunting loneliness? Tamirat answers these questions and more in a thoughtful meditation on the thorny barbs of friendship, family, and patriotism in this fine debut novel. Steeped in allegory and dark humor, The Parking Lot Attendant will leave you wanting more, contemplating the impossibility of ever truly knowing the people you love.\" --\u003cb\u003eNaomi Jackson, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Star Side of Bird Hill\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Nafkote Tamirat is a blazing new talent. \u003ci\u003eThe Parking Lot Attendant\u003c\/i\u003e reads like David Mitchell and Graham Greene decided to collaborate on a novel. But guess what? Neither of those dudes could come up with something like this. Wild and witty, funny and rueful this is the enviable debut of a spectacular artist.\" \u003cb\u003e--Victor LaValle, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Changeling\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLong-listed New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year (2018)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781250128508\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Henry Holt and Co.","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40673438564558,"sku":"9781250128508","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_e313b44f-efaa-4d4b-9ce8-e60bc0d26ea7.jpg?v=1639883535","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781250128508","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}