New York Times T Style Magazine “My friends are pretty much all Americanized. We like to go to Brighton Beach and buy the vodka bottles shaped like Kalashnikovs and get all the food that our grandmothers cooked”…
Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Singer-songwriter Simone dissects her Russian roots, her convoluted path toward religion, and what it means to be an artist, in this razor-sharp debut essay collection…”
Wall Street Journal (Speakeasy): “reads like a frenzied, Eastern European musician’s version of humorist David Sedaris’s books”
NPR ‘Marketplace’ (interview with Kai Ryssdal): “funny — actually funny.”
The Nervous Breakdown “It turns out that, in addition to being a great songsmith, Simone happens to be an incredible writer of prose. Her essays are often laugh-out-loud funny, always smart and heartfelt.”
LargeHearted Boy: Book Notes “…easily the funniest book I have read all year.”
Kirkus “vibrant, taut and humorous.”
The Daily: “for anyone who’s ever pursued a creative life, Simone gets all the details of being a struggling musician… just right.”
USA Network’s Character Blog: Top 5 Books for Your Summer Reading List
Full Stop: “…one of the funniest, and often deeply poignant, collection of essays that I’ve read in a long time.” (*btw, this one is loooong and comprehensive)
Elle Readers Prize Picks: June “Whip-smart, this collection of essays is both entertaining and thought provoking…”
The Big Jewcy: Top 100 people Jews should know and love (Interview) “Her warm and hilarious new book is full of self-effacing anecdotes about trying to make it as an artist in New York and other madcap adventures–making it one of few memoirs that stands out in a crowd.”
Philadelphia Examiner: “among the most entertaining literary efforts by a musician… well ever”
Seattle Weekly: “hilarious and heartwarming”
Beatrice (video interview that also includes Darin Strauss and Deb Olin Unferth)
Publishing Perspectives: My Favorite Book of the Summer
Hudson Booksellers: Best Books of 2011
Abe’s Penny (Collaboration with artist Spencer Tunick)
New Hampshire Public Radio’s “Word of Mouth” (interview)
North Carolina Public Radio’s “The State of Things” (interview)
New York Press (interviewish thingee)
The Jewish Daily Forward (review)
The Millions (interview on the top of playlists for books)
Harper’s Bazaar (Spring Fashion Week reading list for 2012)
American Robotnik (review and interview)
Download the audio version of Chapter 2 of You Must Go and Win for free on Neil Gaiman’s blog.
“Most collections of personal essays are dull. This one isn’t. Alina Simone uses her life as material to tell stories that are funny, heartwarming, tragic—often all at the same time. Her subjects, whether music, religion, Russia, or family, are conjured and dissected with warm humor and sharp eyes.” —Neil Gaiman
“Never has the paying of creative dues been written about with more sincerity and humor. As a twenty-first century Portrait of the Artist, warts and all, You Must Go and Win is a delight and, in all honesty, an inspiration.” —John Wray, author of Lowboy
