"Theodora Ziolkowski’s On the Rocks is wickedly sharp and acidly funny—a tragi-comic voyage into the land of mothers and daughters, grief and therapy, and the shipwreck of heartbreak. This is mordant, memorable work from a writer to watch."
—Alix Ohlin, author of Dual Citizens
“Ziolkowski’s Eva Marino is a wry and relatable comic voice, narrating as if through a facepalm—On the Rocks is often a madcap delight, reveling in quirks of character and outrageous turns, but as with all great comic novels the laughs are sometimes the keep-from-crying kind. Beneath the book’s many charms and impeccable deadpan delivery is a story about trauma: how we endure it (or pretend to), how we struggle to truthfully speak it, and how we too frequently end up revisiting it upon ourselves and the ones we love.”
—Joseph Bates, author of Tomorrowland: Stories
"Theodora Ziolkowski's On the Rocks is a very funny, very wise novel about family—which is to say, about grief and love and betrayal and hope. And it's narrated by force of narrative nature—Eva, a young woman who is a brilliant sayer, and seer, but who also has a secret. And what a treat it is to watch Ziolkowski tease the secret out of her and into this wonder of a book."
—Brock Clarke, author of Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe?
“In this hilarious, poignant debut, Ziolkowski sends her characters on a razor’s-edge walk between laughter and grief. With sharp humor and a keen eye from the ways we reach out to the ones we love, she shows us the prickly, ferocious bond between mothers and daughters, and the divisions that threaten to tear them apart. On the Rocks is a knife-sharp, gorgeously written adventure through the modern heart.”
—Blair Hurley, author of The Devoted
"In her post-postmodern comedy of manners, On the Rocks, Theodora Ziolkowski goes all-in in reimagining Austenesque billet –doux and pas de deux now steeped in the new electromagnetic stew of the contemporary nuclear family’s terrarium. I marveled at the book's 5G velocities, the sublime catalogue of objective correlatives collecting meanings on the sly, the down low. At once, On the Rocks seems timeless and time-full, ageless in its emotion and instant indetail. This is an amazing amalgam, all double-timed and quick silvered in the presence of mercurial mercury."
—Michael Martone, author of Brooding and The Moon Over Wapakoneta
“By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, On the Rocks is a touching and intelligent exploration of the deep bonds between mothers and daughters, the complex mechanics of grief, and the power of loss to either unite or divide us. Eva Marino is an acerbic and unforgettable narrator who brings her seaside world and zany family to life in brilliant Technicolor, exposing the joys and horrors of being inextricably bound to one’s mother—and to one’s ghosts.”
—Ashley Wurzbacher, author of How to Care for a Human Girl
“In Eva Marino, Theodora Ziolkowski has created a hero of a daughter and a narrator. With the rapid-fire delivery of a stand-up comedian, this is a book of perfect timing—astute and laugh-out-loud funny for its social observations and hysterical range of contemporary cultural references. The comedy runs the gamut, steeped in farce, satire, pratfalls and puns worthy of the alcohol-sodden title, not to mention the mother-daughter duo’s hometown of ‘Ship Bottom.’ Throughout, the eccentric cast of characters that come and go aren’t just sources for laughter, but loveable in their vulnerability. Ziolkowski’s first book is as full of heart as humor—a stunningly original new vision and comic voice.”
—Anthony Caleshu, author of A Dynamic Exchange Between Us
“On the Rocks is a vivid and affecting portrait of memorably eccentric characters navigating through the shoals of love, loss, and betrayal. Ziolkowski’s narrator, Eva, seesaws brilliantly from ruminating on grief to commenting on everything from New Age trends to the enduring love between mothers and daughters.”
—Wendy Rawlings, author of Time for Bed
"Heart shattering and hilarious, often at the same time, On the Rocks is a bravura performance in miniature—a beautifully written, effervescently compassionate window into the inextricably bound histories, heads, and hearts of Eva and Leonora Marino.”
—Kate Racculia, author of Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
and Bellweather Rhapsody
ORDER ON THE ROCKS: Texas A&M | Brazos Bookstore | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Audiobook: Audible | iTunes/AppleBooks