Kristen Arnett conquers the literary world
Kristen Arnett – our longtime pick for funniest local librarian on Twitter, and conductor of our favorite (maybe only) book release party in a 7-Eleven – released her debut novel, Mostly Dead Things (Tin House Books), in June of this year. The response to the novel – about a Florida lesbian taking over her family's taxidermy business after her father's suicide – has been nothing short of stellar. It's become a New York Times bestseller, been featured on summer reading lists in media outlets from Entertainment Weekly to Vanity Fair, and even got Arnett invited to appear on NPR and on PBS' Amanpour & Co. Arnett recently tweeted about signing a "bigass writing contract" in her car in front of her childhood home and was retweeted by none other than (presumable fan) Stephen Goddamn King. Arnett's charmingly understated response: "oh man thank you buddy." See, we told you so.
Arts & Culture: Best of Orlando 2019: Orlando's best artists, writers, comedians, museums and more
Photo illustration by Adam McCabe
Arts & Culture
1. Orlando Fringe Festival, orlandofringe.org
2. Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, wpsaf.org
3. Mount Dora Arts Festival, mountdoraartsfestival.org
1. Les Vixens Burlesque, facebook.com/lvburlesque
2. Corsets and Cuties, corsetsandcuties.com
3 Cherry Bomb Burlesque, cherrybombburlesque.com
1. SAK Comedy Lab, sak.com
2. Orlando Improv, theimprovorlando.com
3. Bull & Bush Shit Sandwich, bullandbushorlando.com
1. Orlando Ballet, orlandoballet.org
2. Phantasmagoria, phantasmagoriaorlando.com
3. VarieTease, thevenueorlando.com
1. Florida Film Festival, floridafilmfestival.com
2. Orlando Film Festival, orlandofilmfest.com
3. FilmSlam at Enzian, facebook.com/filmslam
1 CityArts, facebook.com/cityartsfactory
2 Snap! Orlando, snaporlando.com
3 Downtown Arts Collective, downtownartscollective.com
1. Orlando Story Club, orlandostoryclub.com
2. Get Lit: Closed Mic, facebook.com/ncbekpoet
3. Queer Quills, facebook.com/queerquills
1. Benjamin Ptashinsky
2. Carlos Navarro, iamcarlosnavarro.com
3. Blue Star, facebook.com/babybluestar
