Cheryl Della Pietra reads from Gonzo Girl: A Novel (Touchstone, 2015)

Alley Russo is a young aspiring novelist who arrives at Walker Reade’s compound in the Colorado Rockies hoping to win the job as his assistant. Aging literary lion Reade has gone off the deep end. Struggling to finish his overdue manuscript, he falls into the wild lifestyle that made him a legend. Alley tries to coax a novel out of Reade while battling his procrastination, vampiric schedule, substance abuse, and casual gunplay. Soon she realizes she is isolated in the mountains at the mercy of a drug-addicted writer who may never produce another book—and her fate may already be sealed.

“Cheryl Della Pietra’s novel inspired by her time as Hunter S. Thompson’s assistant will linger in your mind. … Della Pietra’s tale about writing, firearms, psychotropics, and the pros and cons of hot tubs will suck you in and take you on ride. Gonzo Girl is a ticket you want to buy.”

– Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black