Good Kings Bad Kings: A Novel - Softcover

“A KNOCKOUT . . . A book that has the potential to change forever the conversation we are (or are not) having about what it means to be ‘disabled’ . . . In Good Kings Bad Kings, we have the rare opportunity to be awakened by hearing the truth delivered with beauty alongside agony, despair interwoven with possibility.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

Bellwether Award winner Susan Nussbaum’s powerful novel invites us into the lives of a group of typical teenagers—alienated, funny, yearning for autonomy—except that they live in an institution for juveniles with disabilities. This unfamiliar, isolated landscape is much the same as the world outside: friendships are forged, trust is built, love affairs are kindled, and rules are broken. But those who call it home have little or no control over their fate. Good Kings Bad Kings challenges our definitions of what it means to be disabled in a story told with remarkable authenticity and in voices that resound with humor and spirit.

“Nussbaum upholds the individuality and integrity of her characters . . . [Their] natural, discursive rhythms and moments of unvarnished honesty bring them rapidly to life.” —The Wall Street Journal

“[Nussbaum’s]novel is all fierce energy and wit, a celebration of strength, dignity, and the cathartic pleasure of telling it like it is.” —Rosellen Brown

“[She] eviscerates the stereotypes by being, in a word, hilarious—her dark, humanistic humor flies off the page.” —Chicago Reader

“Not only shines a light on a segment of society often ignored, in art as well as life, but also is a really great read.” —The Washington Post

“Unquestionably an authentic, galvanizing, and righteous novel.” —Booklist, starred and boxed review

“This is a world as foreign to most as another planet. That Nussbaum is able to make it as real and as painful and joyful and alive as she does is a spectacular accomplishment . . . A joy for readers.” —Chicago Tribune

Susan Nussbaum’s plays have been widely produced. Her play Mishuganismo is included in the anthology Staring Back: The Disability Experience from the Inside Out. In 2008 she was cited by the Utne Reader as one of “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World” for her work with girls with disabilities. This is her first novel.