In a few words, With Teeth is the gritty, honest, and even a little spooky story of Sammie, Monika, and Samson, a queer family finding their way between dreams of a perfect life together and the life they’re actually living.
In more words, “With Teeth is a surprising and moving story of two mothers, one difficult son, and the limitations of marriage, parenthood, and love. Working from home in the close quarters of their Florida house, Sammie lives with one wary eye peeled on Samson, a sullen, unknowable boy who resists her every attempt to bond with him. Uncertain in her own feelings about motherhood, she tries her best--driving, cleaning, cooking, prodding him to finish projects for school--while growing increasingly resentful of Monika, her confident but absent wife. As Samson grows from feral toddler to surly teenager, Sammie's life begins to deteriorate into a mess of unruly behavior, and her struggle to create a picture-perfect queer family unravels.”
hardcover | published by Riverhead Books June 01, 2021 | 304 pages
Meet the Author:
Kristen Arnett (any pronouns) is the author of With Teeth: A Novel (Riverhead Books, 2021) and the NYT bestselling debut novel Mostly Dead Things (Tin House, 2019) which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in fiction. Kristen is a queer fiction and essay writer. They were awarded Ninth Letter's Literary Award in Fiction, have been a columnist for Literary Hub, and were a Spring 2020 Shearing Fellow at Black Mountain Institute. Their work has appeared at The New York Times, The Cut, North American Review, The Normal School, Gulf Coast, TriQuarterly, Guernica, Buzzfeed, Electric Literature, McSweeneys, PBS Newshour, Bennington Review, The Guardian, Salon, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Their next book (an untitled collection of short stories) will be published by Riverhead Books (Penguin Random House). Kristen has a Masters in Library and Information Science from Florida State University and currently lives in Miami, Florida. You can find Kristen on Twitter here: @Kristen_Arnett
