Bream Gives Me Hiccups

Praise for Bream Gives Me Hiccups:

**A Fall Books Preview Selection by Audible
One of the Wall Street Journal’s 15 Books to Read This Fall
One of USA Today’s Weekend Picks for Book Lovers
One of People’s Best New Books

“Eisenberg has a terrific ear, especially for adolescent inflections, absurdity, self-delusion, and insecurity. He also has a flair for off-the-wall ideas . . . With its panoply of neurotics and narcissists and its smart mix of stinging satire and surprising moments of sweetness, Bream Gives Me Hiccups brings to mind fellow comic actor/writers Woody Allen, Steve Martin and B.J. Novak. It also offers a youthful new twist on what one of Eisenberg’s hopeless dreamers refers to—ironically, of course—as the cruel ‘irony of life.’”—NPR Books

“Compelling . . . A fascinating look into the minds of misfits . . . Whether it’s Alexander Graham Bell bumbling through his first phone calls or Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks pacifying a fan, Eisenberg’s ability to create interesting and entertaining dialogue as if the exchange actually occurred is impressive . . . Eisenberg’s wit jumps off the page . . . Bream Gives Me Hiccups is a delightful collection of awkward scenarios twisted into humorous, witty and sometimes poignant life lessons. It’s simultaneously smart, clever and creative.”—Associated Press

“Eisenberg’s strength is in dialogue and monologue, and in writing miserable characters who alternately compel (like a 9-year-old from a broken home who writes restaurant reviews) and repel (like Harper, the footnote-obsessed freshman Eisenberg lovingly describes as ‘maladjusted’) . . . Eisenberg is uncannily good at capturing a specific breed of insincere teen girl.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Fans of writing by Woody Allen and B.J. Novak will revel in these hilarious pieces by actor-playwright Eisenberg. Light or dark but never sweet, each is inventive . . . Relationships gone haywire provide many of the best jokes. It’s a hoot.”—People (The Best New Books)

“A great book . . . The first part of the book [is] a series of restaurant reviews Eisenberg writes in the voice of a privileged nine-year old. The reviews are hilarious but gradually reveal a moving portrait of a lonely boy’s bond with his single mom. All the stories seem to work on multiple levels like that.”—Arun Rath, “All Things Considered,” NPR

“I love it.”—Diane Rehm, Diane Rehm Show

“An alphabet soup of sketches, riffs, and innovations . . . Eisenberg is funny . . . with wit and insight beyond his 31 years . . . These stories remind me . . . of Steve Martin in the way they often subvert comic convention and, more significantly, in how the author empathizes with his characters . . . Eisenberg’s empathy, even more than his intelligence and wit, make him an artist worth watching.”—Seattle Times

“Bream Gives Me Hiccups & Other Stories features a mixture of humor and sad stories . . . In his new collection . . . Eisenberg has some wicked fun with limousine liberals, the young and overly educated, and others from demographic groups in urgent need of satire. Yet he does so with surprising compassion and a deep feeling for the pain of human disconnectedness.”—Chicago Tribune

“It’s no surprise, perhaps, that the actor’s short stories read like scenes. What may be a surprise, however, is Eisenberg’s deft talent for playfully bringing both familiar and wholly original scenarios to life.”—Marie Claire (What We’re Reading)

“Jesse Eisenberg is as unpredictable on the page as he is on screen . . . Eisenberg’s perversely dark sense of humor gives stories bite, and the collection’s loose structure—split into nine sections, some lasting only a few pages—makes it a brisk, approachable read . . . It’s a confident step forward for Eisenberg as a writer and should pave the way for a more formal novel, with any luck.”—USA Today

“A short humor collection overflowing with high-strung characters entangled in absurd situations.”—O Magazine (A Dozen Ways to Spread the Cheer)

“[Eisenberg’s] jittery on-screen energy seeps onto the pages of this book.”—Wall Street Journal (15 Books to Read This Fall)

“Eisenberg’s 28 stories in Bream Gives Me Hiccups range from the diary of a nine-year-old food critic to letters about stolen ramen . . . Eisenberg’s characters are lively, and his awareness of universal neuroses (yours and his alike) shows he’s more than a hobbyist.”—Time (Best of Fall: Books)

“He’s a walking ball of neuroses, a fledgling playwright, and now a short-story writer, telling tales covering subjects as varied as Pompeii and ramen.”—New York Magazine (Fall Books Preview)

“Funny and poignant, a darkly comic look at family, insecurity, and, briefly, Cameroonian separatism.”—National Post

“I was reading this book and laughing out loud over and over and over again . . . This is really good . . . Wildly funny short stories . . . Spectacular.”—WGBH/Boston Public Radio

“The star of The Social Network and The Last Tour can also write! ‘Separation Anxiety Sleep Away Camp’ is worth the entire volume.”—SF Gate (Recommendations from Mrs. Dalloway’s)

“Mr. Eisenberg . . . is expanding as a playwright and author . . . For those seeking hidden clues into the real Mr. Eisenberg by reading his fiction, there is no simple transparency . . . This fascination with psychology, neurosis and a mash-up of high and low culture often inspires comparisons with Woody Allen . . . Mr. Eisenberg prefers to be a creator rather than a consumer of culture.”—New York Observer

“Bream Gives Me Hiccups isn’t merely comic writing of the first order; it’s an often tender, highbrow-lowbrow mash-up that encompasses everything from Chomsky and Žižek to disastrous pickup lines and pubescent neuroses. Jesse Eisenberg writes with formidable intellect and verbal dexterity, but he also has something many deadeye satirists lack: empathy with his targets. To borrow his most unforgettable character’s line, you’ll want to give his debut collection 2000 out of 2000 stars.”—Teddy Wayne, author of The Love Song of Jonny Valentine

“Jesse Eisenberg is a deeply original comic voice. These stories are about the funniness, sadness, and strangeness of everyday life and they really made me laugh.”—Roz Chast

“A remarkable book by an immensely talented writer.”—Andy Borowitz

“Brilliantly witty, deeply intelligent, and just plain hilarious. If David Sedaris wrote about Carmelo Anthony, Bosnian genocide, and ramen-stealing college freshmen, it would probably come out something like Jesse Eisenberg’s Bream Gives Me Hiccups. A moving portrait of human beings at their weaker moments, and a wonderful send-up of the insanities of modern America.”—Sherman Alexie

“I’ve been a fan of Jesse Eisenberg’s plays for years and his prose is just as winning. Bream Gives Me Hiccups is hilarious, poignant and at times so self-deprecating it makes me want to give Jesse a hug. He’s taken decades of neurosis and spun it into comedy gold.”—Simon Rich

“Jesse Eisenberg’s hysterical and exciting stories come in the form of email exchanges, conversations in parks, and late nig…