The Answer Is Always Yes

March 31, 2008
With a Stegner Fellowship and some big-name poetry publications under her belt, it's not surprising that Ferrell delivers a stylized and exuberantly written debut novel. Matthew Acciaccatura begins his freshman year at NYU determined to become cool. As it turns out, Matthew is the fixation of Hans Mannheim, an incarcerated German professor who annotates the novel with his increasingly creepy thoughts on Matthew's quest. Ferrell and Mannheim track Matthew's ascent up the ranks of New York hip, culminating in his transformation into “Magic Matt,” the promoter of über-hot club Cinema. As his last name suggests (acciaccatura is a note that creates dissonance within harmony), Matthew's new job takes some ugly turns; they are unexpected by Matthew and those close to him, but painfully anticipated by the reader. Ferrell is at her best when focusing on language and the explosive emotions that accompany jaded youth and idealism. Less successful, however, is Mannheim, whose most remarkable aspect is how caricatured he is. The writing is fabulous, but it's unfortunately in service of a lackluster plot and gimmicky structure.

Starred review from June 1, 2008
Like many another sad outsider, teenager Matthew Acciaccatura, fromTeaneck, New Jersey, is desperate to become one of the cool kids. He finally gets his chance when--now an academically promising freshman at NYU--hes hired as a promoter for Cinema, one of the hottest clubs in 1990s New York. A true naf, Matt is as astonished as the reader by his subsequent transformation from social outcast to "Magic Matt, King of Club Kids." Ferrells cautionary account of Matts descent into the dark world of disco, drugs, desire, and self-delusion is gorgeously written, beautifully imagined, and wonderfully spot-on in its analysis of Matts insecurities, resentments, and puppy-like longings. A slyly Nabokovian touch is the authors inclusion of footnotes on Matts transformation, ostensibly offered by another outsider, a humorless German sociologist named Dr. Hans Mannheim, who will become, in surprising ways, more than a clinical observer of Matts sadly predictable fate. Irresistibly readable, Ferrells first novel is a triumph not only of setting but also of voice, tone, and attitude.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)