AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023A bladesharp comingofage novel SPECTATORConfirms Flattery as a bracingly original writer IRISH INDEPENDENTIn enviably elegant prose she manages to be both arch and deadly serious LOUISE KENNEDYA wildly original debut novel about two young women navigating the complex worlds of Andy Warhols Factory and coming of age in 1960s New YorkNew York City 1966. Seventeenyearold Mae lives in a rundown apartment with her alcoholic mother and her mothers sometimesboyfriend Mikey. She is turned off by the petty girls at her high school and the sleazy men she typically meets. When she drops out she is presented with a job offer that will remake her world entirely she is hired as a typist for the artist Andy Warhol.Warhol is composing an unconventional novel by recording the conversations and experiences of his many famous and alluring friends. Tasked with transcribing these tapes alongside several other girls Mae quickly befriends Shelley and the two of them embark on a surreal adventure at the fringes of the countercultural movement. Going to parties together exploring their womanhood and sexuality this should be the most enlivening experience of Maes life. But as she grows increasingly obsessed with the tapes and numb to her own reality Mae must grapple with the thin line between art and voyeurism and determine how she can remain her own person as the tide of the sixties sweeps over her.Nothing Special is a whipsmart comingofage story about friendship independence and the construction of art and identity bringing to life the experience of young women in this iconic and turbulent moment.PRAISE FOR SHOW THEM A GOOD TIMEA masterclass . . . Bold irreverent and agonisingly funny Sally RooneyAnnounces the arrival of a brilliant talent Financial TimesExplores difficult questions about selfworth agency and intimacy with thrilling sharpness Sunday TimesDemands repeated reading Jon McGregorA 2023 HIGHLIGHT FOR THE TIMES TELEGRAPH STYLIST GQ GUARDIAN