The road to hell is paved with good intentionsβ¦and tequila, guns, and cocaine in this βrambunctiously entertainingβ (Teddy Wayne) debut novel inspired by the authorβs time as Hunter S. Thompsonβs assistant.
Alley Russo is a recent college grad desperately trying to make it in the grueling world of New York publishing, but like so many who have come before her, she has no connections and has settled for an unpaid magazine internship while slinging drinks on Bleecker Street just to make ends meet. Thatβs when she hears the infamous Walker Reade is looking for an assistant to replace the eight others who have recently quit. Hungry for a chance to get her manuscript onto the desk of an experienced editor, Alley jumps at the opportunity to help Reade finish his latest novel.
After surviving an absurd three-day βtrial periodβ involving a .44 magnum, purple-pyramid acid, violent verbal outbursts, brushes with fame and the law, a bevy of peacocks, and a whole lot of cocaine, Alley is invited to stay at the compound where Reade works. For months Alley attempts to coax the novel out of Walker page-by-page, all while battling his endless procrastination, vampiric schedule, Herculean substance abuse, mounting debt, and casual gunplay. But as the job begins to take a toll on her psyche, Alley realizes sheβs alone in the Colorado Rockies at the mercy of a drug-addicted literary icon who may never produce another novelβand her fate may already be sealed.
βA margarita-fueled, miniskirt-clad cautionary tale of lost literary innocenceβ (Vogue), Gonzo Girl is a loving fictional portrait of a larger-than-life literary icon.