“Stewart O’Nan has been one of the best chroniclers of the lives of American women.”—Susan Straight
“Vividly realized . . . Hypnotic . . . Features an unfailing intelligence, a grim and bracing humor, an unblinking eye for the telling detail.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A sexy, breathless, and pitch-perfect tale . . . An unabashed roller coaster of a book . . . Marjorie is a character straight out of a David Lynch film, realistic and unsentimental, creepy and bizarre.”—Detour
“A terrific novel: gripping, quirky, funny, violent, and heart-breaking. I haven’t read a better book so far this year.”—Nick Hornby
“Scathing and intelligent . . . Makes the skin crawl.”—Los Angeles Times
“An authentic American voice, by turns naïve, brutal, pathetic, comic, and woefully ignorant.”—Chicago Tribune
“Brazen, brilliantly paced . . . The Speed Queen is both a traditional crime confessional and a modern anthem to the open road. Like Cain and Chandler, O’Nan gets inside the head of a good woman gone bad . . . Slick imagery sparkles like a beefy line of crystal meth laid out on a moonlit dashboard, while the story flows smooth and strong as an intravenous injection.”—The Syracuse New Times
“Fascinating, compelling, and chilling . . . You can’t wait to turn the page.”—The Oklahoma Gazette
“Clean, mean, creepy storytelling.”—The Oregonian
“Chilling . . . Marjorie Standiford is both endearing and terrifying, funny and pathetic . . . Her oral autobiography reveals far more about the heart of darkness than a Stephen King horror story ever could.”—The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Marjorie’s voice is strong, detailed, and compelling . . . O’Nan’s power of language combine[s] with his strong storytelling skills.”—The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
“At once comic and terrifying, yet addictive . . . I have to confess, I read the whole thing in one day because I couldn’t let go.”—Pittsburgh Magazine
“Marjorie’s ingenuous voice, rendered with wit and polish, sounds as stark and hypnotic as a midnight talk-radio host.”—Publishers Weekly
“Combines the manic rush of Natural Born Killers with the dreamy lyricism of Badlands . . . An unflinching take on the land of fast food and fast cars, where everyone is juiced to the max—and no one is really going anywhere.”—People
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