• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2023 February #2
  This zany and fun novel follows Penny as she romps her way around California in the Dog of the North, an old, inherited van with charming curtains and crap brakes. Fresh off a sad but inevitable divorce, Penny leaves Santa Cruz behind for exciting new ventures while still reeling from the mysterious disappearance of her mother and stepfather in Australia and the more recent (and unrelated) arrest of her grandmother after extremely incriminating evidence was found on her property. McKenzie (The Portable Veblen, 2016) utilizes California's inherently eccentric identity to the advantage of this wild plot. Anything and everything are possible here, like a Pomeranian named Kweecoats (pronounced like "QuickOats," with a French accent). The whims of old men must be managed and an infected stab wound from a potentially rat-kissed brooch monitored. Penny is always sharp, ready for the other shoe to drop, and lovable. This spinning, upside-down roller coaster of a novel is a delightful portrait of the definitive chaos of love and family and perfect for fans of Carl Hiassen and George Saunders. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.

Elizabeth McKenzie is the author of the novel The Portable Veblen, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and shortlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize; a collection, Stop That Girl, shortlisted for The Story Prize; and the novel MacGregor Tells the World, a Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and was recorded for NPR’s Selected Shorts.