Bongwater
by Michael Hornburg
Category: Fiction

This novel of young slackers in 1990s Portland and New York City is “a swift, exhilarating read [and] a surprisingly sweet-natured love story” (Madison Smartt Bell). Set against the backdrop of the grunge era, and ranging from the Pacific Northwest to a pre-gentrified East Village and Brooklyn, Bongwater is a novel of the much-misunderstood nineties generation. Following aspiring filmmaker Frank, his ex-girlfriend Courtney, a stripper named Mary, and other characters, author Michael Hornburg creates, in precise, startlingly original prose, a neo-Beat classic that was the basis for the film starring Luke Wilson and Alicia Witt. “Ridiculously well-written.” —New Musical Express