BookBrowse Reviews Stop Me If You've Heard This One by Kristen Arnett

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A young woman chases success as a clown while reckoning with her brother's death.

Cherry is a part-time saleswoman at an aquarium supply store, but it's just a side gig to support her real passion—clowning. Yes, as in performing at children's birthday parties with a wig and red nose. She hopes to get noticed on the clowning circuit and maybe get picked for a bigger tour or showcase. It's perhaps a bizarre dream career for a modern-day woman in her twenties. Clowns are, after all, decidedly uncool. But Cherry's dream has deeper roots: clowning is her way of coping after her brother's death in an accident five years ago.

Dwight wasn't a literal clown, but he would have thrived as one. Several years Cherry's senior, he was the star of the family, constantly making her and their single mother laugh with his antics and always coming up with the perfect quip to defuse the tension in tough moments at home. Shortly before his death, he attended one of Cherry's early performances and was underwhelmed, but Cherry believes it's just because he couldn't stand anyone being funnier than him. Before his death, Dwight had been building the beginnings of a successful real-estate career off the back of a funny, low-budget commercial about haunted houses.

Cherry and her mom, on the other hand, don't get along, despite both of their best efforts. They've never been as close to one another as they each were with Dwight, and with him gone, the family of two feels especially disconnected. When Cherry invites her mom to one of her first clowning performances, she's hoping for approval, given how entertained her mom was by Dwight's comedy. Instead, her mom is horrified by her daughter's unorthodox career choice. Where her mom is neat and detail-oriented, Cherry's life often feels adrift. Cherry screens her mom's calls while idolizing her best friend's cool, laidback mother and pursuing romantic relationships with much-older women.

In her third novel, Arnett skillfully weaves a story that is both hilarious and touching. Thanks to Cherry's chosen career, readers get plenty of madcap antics and physical comedy. The book opens with Cherry making a daring escape from a birthday party after the child's dad catches her having sex with his wife in the bathroom—in her full clown costume. In another scene, Cherry is surprised to find herself hired for an edgy teenager's birthday party…only to find out to her dismay that they want her to act like a scary clown. Underlying the broader comedic scenes is a sharp wit. Cherry's inner monologue is quietly hilarious and deeply self-aware. For instance, speaking about her best friend, Cherry says, "Darcy's got a great sense of humor. And by that I mean I can tell the same joke fifteen times and she'll still listen to it, even if she does roll her eyes and call me a moron."

But at its core, this is a novel about reckoning with grief. In one heartbreaking scene, a customer at her store turns out to be one of her brother's old high school friends. Cherry observes his middle-aged paunch and out-of-date hairstyle and grieves the fact that her brother never got to reach this age. When the customer asks her to tell Dwight he says hi, she doesn't mention that he's dead. She doesn't want to deal with the pain of breaking the news of her brother's death to this stranger. At the same time, she has frequent conversations with her dead brother. She knows he's not actually there, but she imagines dialogues with his ghost, during which he dispenses wisdom while mocking her relentlessly (as older siblings are known to do). Over time, Cherry becomes less reliant on this coping mechanism as she grows into a (slightly) more adult version of herself. At a crossroads in her career, she begins to realize she's been stunted by his death and starts to take steps toward greater independence.

Readers will enjoy seeing Cherry come into her own, and her story is likely to resonate with anyone who's felt lost or unsettled. Arnett's novel is both accessible and enjoyable, yet its messages and memorable characters are likely to linger for a long time.

This review will run in the March 26, 2025 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.