<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: -1; "></span></div></blockquote><div>Victoria (Tory) Patterson is an MFA graduate of, and a lecturer in, the Department of Creative Writing.</div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: -1; ">---------- Forwarded message ----------</span></div><div class="gmail_quote">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Johnson, Jenna L. (HTP-NYC)</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Jenna.Johnson@hmhpub.com">Jenna.Johnson@hmhpub.com</a>></span><br> Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 8:00 AM<br>Subject: Starred PW review for DRIFT!<br>To: Victoria Patterson <<a href="mailto:v.a.patterson@gmail.com">v.a.patterson@gmail.com</a>><br>Cc: Michael Carlisle <<a href="mailto:michael@inkwellmanagement.com">michael@inkwellmanagement.com</a>><br> <br><br> <div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"> <div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Congratulations Tory!</span></font></p><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><img src="cid:8FE0DC1E-78E6-49A0-A321-1BB6302527BF@ucr.edu"><b><b><font face="Times New Roman">Drift</font></b></b><span> </span><span><b><font color="red"><span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Victoria Patterson</span></font></b></span><span>. </span><span>Houghton Mifflin Harcourt</span><span>, $12.95 paper (240p) ISBN </span><span>978-0-547-05494-0</span></span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Patterson illustrates how deceiving initial impressions can be in her dark debut, a collection of 13 interconnected stories. At first glance, the characters seem to be blessed, living in tony Newport Beach, Calif., but Patterson quickly scrapes off the glitter, examining the complicated lives of Rosie, a confused teenage girl; John Wayne, a brain-damaged, homeless stoner; Anne, a lesbian psychologist in love with Rosie's mother; Melody, a trophy wife cheating on her husband, Henry Wilson, who has a secret of his own; and Joe/Christina, a transvestite. The majority of the stories feature Rosie, a nerdy teenager whose attempts to make sense of her life lead her down increasingly self-destructive paths, though she remains touchingly aware of others' suffering. In “Winter Formal: A Night of Magic,” Rosie and a seemingly perfect blonde princess have a nightmare evening; in “The First and Second Time,” Rosie violently loses her virginity. Later, in “Joe/Christina,” Rosie, now an alcoholic community college student, finds an unlikely savior in the local transvestite. Patterson's unflinching account of the seedy side of a real-life Xanadu is frightening, immersive and wonderfully realized. <i><i><font face="Times New Roman">(June)</font></i></i></span></font></p><div><font face="Palatino Linotype" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span></font><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div><font face="Palatino Linotype" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span></font><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><p><b><b><font face="Palatino Linotype" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">-------------------------------------------------------------------</span></font></b></b></p><p><font face="Palatino Linotype" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">Jenna Johnson <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: -1; ">Senior Editor</span></span></font></p><p><font face="Palatino Linotype" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">Houghton Mifflin Harcourt</span></font></p><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></body></html>