"With Isabel Raven, Selwood has created a character who truly epitomizes our Apocalyptic Pinball Age. Slashing through the faux palms of our disposable Britney jungle, Raven is a tour guide of our hilariously disingenuous world as the genuine world crumbles. Read this book, because laughing yourself to death is the second best way to go."--Arthur Nersesian
"Isabel Raven should be aglow. Rare among painters, she has made it big in L.A. A major exhibition is set to open, and a billionaire racked by guilt over the 9/11 death of his business partner is avidly collecting Isabel’s kitschy work (she inserts celebrity faces into masterpieces; picture Martha Stewart in The Scream) to please Cordelia, his raunchy-beyond-her-years 13-year-old adopted daughter. But instead of basking in her success, Isabel is a complete wreck along with her postearthquake apartment. Her chef-to-the-stars boyfriend has taken up with a Latina teenage diva, her sleazy gallery owner has posted nude photos of her on the Internet, her mother is 'pathologically chatty,' and her physicist father has done the math that proves that the planets in our solar system will start crashing into one another in 2049. Selwood’s laugh-out-loud madcap debut mocks today’s digitized, hard-sell, sex-obsessed world as it teeters 'somewhere between carnival and riot.' With high appeal for hip young readers attuned to 'the bittersweet feeling of exhilarated alienation,' Selwood should have a bright writing future."--Donna Seaman
"If you can set aside Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows long enough to read a *coughgrownupcough* book this week, consider making it The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse, the debut novel by Jonathan Selwood. Set in sunny LA, Pinball Theory is a rollicking satire crammed with art forgers, vaginal rejuvenations, and a "Dutch-Eskimo billionaire." Since I'm pretty sure J.K. Rowling didn't write about vaginoplasty in the new book, I'm calling it 1-0, Selwood."--CB
"Jonathan Selwood plays his cast to perfection, bringing humor and grace to the story... If you are looking for a very satisfying read, this dark comedy is it."--Armchair Interviews
"I really enjoyed that despite the series of earthquakes, all the characters in this book were going about their day as if nothing unusual had happened. Just another day in LA. It’s like they all are thinking something along the lines of, 'Sure, I know the world is going to end, but, I’m working on a deadline, and I really want a Starbucks right now, so, be right back!'"--Bookwyrm
"[Selwood] could be the next big kinda underground but still really marketable Chuck Palahniuk-type author."
"The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse is to art what The Devil Wears Prada is to fashion. Insanity is the raucous norm, but Selwood does an excellent job at this satirical romp through the promotional L.A. scene, with a subtle, but no less powerful, set of inferences about being REAL despite the surrounding madness!
"In the light of the flurry of books about art and the relationships behind them within the last few years, this book says more about art, the advertising world, and popular culture than the reader initially expects. And it's done simply but brilliantly!
"Hurrah for you J. Selwood! Who do you think will 'get it?'"--Crystal Reviews
