First Time, Long Time

"It’s bold to create a fictional persona with a strong resemblance to the provocateur and radio host Howard Stern. It’s even bolder to imagine a love-triangle between an aspiring novelist, the Stern-esque radio host, and his twenty-something daughter. Amy Silverberg has the wit, insight, and gumption to pull it off."

"[A] funny, high-spirited novel. . . The book humorously describes a lesser-seen side of Los Angeles: the unglamorous neighborhood of Van Nuys, the shame and humiliations of fame, the agony of trying—and failing— to be someone else, and the thrill of discovering yourself along the way."

"First Time, Long Time by Amy Silverberg is the consummate L.A. story. Here is a brilliant novel about searching for answers that can't be found and making grand mistakes and becoming more the person you're meant to be, all held together by the yearning and striving and ambition of any creative person who finds themselves in the City of Angels. Silverberg is a witty, charming storyteller with a bold, unique voice that makes the writing leap off the page and into your heart."

“Amy Silverberg’s First Time, Long Time is not only funny, smart, and tender, it’s also so sneakily well-written that you’ll be tempted to stop to admire a cool turn-of-phrase instead of plowing through to figure out how her f-ed up heroine gets herself out of the mess she’s made for herself. Read it slow or fast - either way, you’ll have a great time."

 “I didn’t feel like I was reading this amazing book so much as getting to hang out with it every time I picked it up, relaxing into the voice which I savored on every page. Silverberg is a writer’s writer, rewarding us all the time with fresh phrasing that nails an emotional experience, but she’s also a person’s person— open, curious, wrestling with what might be true. A thrilling debut."

"From the very first chapter, First Time, Long Time is a charming, enveloping novel about how we obsessively define ourselves through our aching, absurd, and often fraught relationships with other humans. Amy Silverberg writes like an earnest Joan Didion, with dazzling, clear-eyed prose, a blazing, hyper-observant wit, and a heart bigger and brighter than LA County. This is one of the finest literary debuts I’ve ever read. Silverberg’s a massively talented writer. I'm in awe."

"First Time, Long Time is exactly my kind of funny sad. Silverberg is a master of wry observation. She can be cutting one moment and deeply empathetic the next in her almost surgical understanding of human behavior and the strange comedy of our blundering motivations."

"It's a rare book that can balance humor with existential dread, beauty with wryness. Early in the novel, Allison tells Reid Steinman: 'I read at stoplights. I read all the time.' Amy Silverberg's debut novel First Time, Long Time has me wanting to read at stoplights. I felt propelled, sentence by sentence, scene by scene, to read on and on. This is one of the most enjoyable novels I've read in a long time--for its wit, style, vitality, and pizzazz."