Praise for ‘Proof of Progress’
“I loved this book, filled with deliciously nutty, bite-sized vignettes that go down so easy. Like Grace Paley, Elizabeth Castellano is a master of low-key humor refracted through an eye for the absurd. Her voice is cynical without turning hopeless, comedic but never straying into satire. Pure pleasure.”
-Catherine Newman
New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich and Wreck
"The superb Elizabeth Castellano has written a delicious, hilarious, and completely original (fictional) memoir by an actress who has to honor a book contract from 40 years ago. And it’s a doozy. The components of a complicated life⎯love, family, and history, unspool in surprise, delight, heartache, and pain. I didn’t want this novel to end."
-Adriana Trigiani
Bestselling author of The View from Lake Como
Praise for ‘Save What’s Left’
“Irreverent and unexpectedly tender, this story takes neighborhood feuding to new heights and finds beauty and reinvention in unlikely places. A wickedly funny debut.”
— Oprah Daily
“With its wisecracking protagonist—Kathleen Deane, still reeling from her husband Tom’s declaration that he was unhappy with their Kansas life and marriage—Save What’s Left brings a tongue-in-cheek tone to the beach read genre.”
— TIME
“When her marriage goes bust, Kathleen heads for Long Island, where the challenges of owning a beach house—okay, a converted oyster shack—fuel a series of unfortunate, yet absolutely
hilarious, events.”
— People
“Debut novelist Elizabeth Castellano has a fresh, funny new voice.”
— Katie Couric Media
“Castellano’s wickedly funny debut unfurls in miserable yet gleeful detail the soul-sucking nightmare of owning a house on the Long Island oceanfront. . . . Clearly, the key requirement for successful beach house ownership is a (possibly illegal) sense of humor. Bring it on!”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“You’ll laugh out loud as [Kathleen] goes to war against the development (and her neighbors), and cheer her on as she figures out just what she needs.”
— The Skimm
“In this hilarious farce, we realize that paradise really is anything but when you actually live there.”
— Good Housekeeping
“Castellano turns the beach-read genre on its head in her clever debut. . . . Kathleen’s character and worldview are impeccably drawn, thanks to Castellano’s idiosyncratic and assured voice. This witty send-up is a winner.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Save What’s Left is an absolute delight. It’s laugh out loud funny and full of heart. I loved it.”
— J. Courtney Sullivan
New York Times bestselling author of Friends and Strangers
“I loved every page of Save What’s Left—this voice, this eye, this story, its originality and wit, its offbeat social satire, its loopy cynicism, and a whole town’s good intentions gone awry. Fighting city hall has never been so delicious. Brava, Elizabeth Castellano.
I can’t wait for your next book.”
— Elinor Lipman, author of Ms. Demeanor
“Laugh-out-loud funny, Save What’s Left is a novel about life in a town that makes the perfect escape.”
— Today.com