
March '24 Pick
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
Xochitl Gonzalez
1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t....
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998 Anita’s name has been all but forgotten―certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret. But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.
From Our Book Lover-In-Chief
I have goosebumps just talking about this story and I can’t wait to hear what you think.
Our March Reese's Book Club pick is everything. Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez asks some big questions, like who in art or history is remembered, who is left behind or erased and WHY. I have goosebumps just talking about this story and I can’t wait to hear what you think.


FROM THE AUTHOR
Xochitl Gonzalez
Xochitl Gonzalez is the New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming. Named a Best Book of 2022 by The New York Times, TIME, Kirkus, Washington Post, and NPR, Olga Dies Dreaming was the winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Fiction and The New York City Book Awards. As a staff writer for The Atlantic, she was recognized as a 2023 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. A native Brooklynite and proud public school graduate, Gonzalez holds a BA from Brown University and received her MFA in 2021 from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her new novel, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, is forthcoming on March 5, 2024 with Flatiron Books and is a Reese Book Club pick.
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