Enter the Aardvark

‘Weird, wonderful, and very much of the moment, Enter the Aardvark is a landmark political novel of the Trump era.’

ESQUIRE.COM Best Books of 2020

If you are anything like me, you will end up loving the actual aardvark...and relish the world of taxidermy that Anthony brings to life. Enter the Aardvark sizzles with uproarious fun, from its snout to the sting in its tale.

INDEPENDENT

Inventive and darkly funny...as Anthony connects characters from today with those from 19th-century England, she offers an original and unsettling lens through which to view male power as it has evolved over time.

TIME

A wild ride and might just be the perfect antidote to the wild ride we’re in in real life].

ELECTRIC LIT

The structure doesn’t so much intrigue as ensnare you, weaving its cat’s cradle of a plot as you lie there, strapped to a table... "Enter the Aardvark" is brutally suited to our moment of absurd political theater.

LA TIMES

A blisteringly innovative and outrageous novel...If you're searching for a sharp, looking-glass view into the far end of contemporary politics, look no further. Jessica Anthony's novel has the pacing of a thriller with satirical verve of Nathanael West.

NY OBSERVER

Like A.S. Byatt like with a demented sense of humor… [Jessica Anthony] holds up a funhouse mirror to our own political media in the age of spin…with sentences reminiscent of Joyce’s Dubliners and the later works of T. S. Eliot.

LA REVIEW OF BOOKS

Spry, slim, clever...the inventiveness is impressive and the story has heart.

THE SUNDAY TIMES

The scope of Anthony’s imagination can sometimes beggar belief. What a mind she has. As the narrative twists between the past and the present, it seems like anything could happen at any time….a hilariously poisonous evisceration of the cowardly, disingenuous politicians running rampant through Trump’s Washington.

CULTUREFLY

'Old, dead creature brings down flash, vain senator... Out in front as the most fizzing and amusing novel of the year.'

STRONG WORDS magazine

'Hilarious, moving, ingenious... Enter the Aardvark is an absolute original.'

BROCK CLARKE, author of WHO ARE YOU, CALVIN BLEDSOE?

[An] ingenious political satire…The perfect tonic for testing times…deliciously astute, fresh and terminally funny.

GUARDIAN

Sharp, inventive and very funny, it’s an entertainingly bizarre political satire.

TATLER

‘Part 21st-century political satire, part unexpectedly affecting 19th-century love story…It’s every bit as strange as it sounds, and yet somehow it works: there’s a pleasing symmetry to the parallel plots, and Anthony’s writing is evocative enough to snare the imagination.'

DAILY MAIL

What begins as a topical takedown of the American political system deepens into a hugely enjoyable romp through history...Madcap and satirical without ever being flippant, Anthony’s novel is totally unrealistic yet completely truthful.

OBSERVER

‘A joyfully weird, compulsive political satire'

MAIL ON SUNDAY

Fresh, astute and mouthwateringly sharp, this is a rare thing; a political satire that tugs on the heartstrings in unconventional ways.

IRISH TIMES

‘Sometimes, a paragraph near the start of a novel is so perfect and funny that you read it over and over, laugh every time, and know you’re in for a treat…I'm loving it. Completely insane but utterly hilarious’

JOHN BOYNE

‘Jessica Anthony’s Enter the Aardvark was exactly the smart, funny and poignant pick-me-up that I needed…Anthony entwines her two narrative threads with seamless precision...Riotously entertaining’

i-news

‘A curious, surprising and moving story about two men who— to put it one way — become involved with an aardvark and thereby condemn themselves to death.’

THE CRITIC

Anthony is expert…The novel asks (and answers) simple questions with boundless energy and innovation…Enter the Aardvark earns pride of place, and not just alphabetically.

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Enter Jessica Anthony. With her highly inventive, ever attentive, and morally serious (as all great comedy must be) Enter the Aardvark, she estranges all over again our deplorable political moment, and thereby helps make it bearable.

JOSHUA FERRIS

It’s a long time since I have enjoyed a novel so much. Fresh, witty and smart it also has a heart. What more could you want? And who would have thought that you could become emotionally attached to a stuffed aardvark?

KATE ATKINSON

Jessica Anthony's Enter the Aardvark is a truly fresh piece of art. It is rare that a novel addresses the current political moment. With humor, intelligence and a keen eye for detail Anthony paints a frightening picture of this America. And above all else, this novel never lowers itself to preaching to the choir. This is a great satire.

PERCIVAL EVERETT, author of Erasure