You Deserve Nothing

Alexander Maksik is the recipient of a Truman Capote fellowship and a Teaching/Writing fellowship from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His work has been published in many literary magazines. This is his first novel.

'One of the most engaged reads I've had in years. YOU DESERVE NOTHING is that rare and fearless debut novel that feels like anything but.' -- Alice Sebold, author of THE LOVELY BONES 'Alexander Maksik's YOU DESERVE NOTHING is a bracing, challenging, enthralling debut. It is a novel that rings true from first page to last, refusing the false notion of easy choices, inhabiting, rather, the moral maze of lived life. Here is a gifted writer who understands why the artful telling of a difficult story is a brave and important thing to do. Read this book.' -- John Burnham Schwartz author of THE COMMONER and RESERVATION ROAD 'A provocative, constantly surprising, and original novel written with precision and grace. Maksik is unflinching in his exploration of the sexual awakening of the young, and the moral complexity of adulthood. This is a thrilling debut.' -- Susanna Moore, author of IN THE CUT 'The best stories are by nature confrontational, implicitly asking readers to assess their own lives and assumptions, asking readers not only what they might do in difficult situations but more so what they are doing daily and what it all means. By this yardstick, Alexander Maksik's first novel, You Deserve Nothing, is a thoroughly engaging, passionate, and challenging read that finely walks the line between morality and amorality. In a society, and at a time, when individual identity is so closely tied to collective narcissism, Maksik's novel asks what are the true sources of self-worth? And how shall we live?' -- Tom Jenks, editor, Narrative magazine 'Alexander Maksik deftly evokes the beauty and pathos of Paris. The story of Will, Gilad and Marie, each compelled towards his or her own moral and sexual awakening, is at once dark and luminous. This is a book to be read all at once with a glass of wine in a cafe or a cup of tea while tucked safely in bed' -- A.M. Homes 'YOU DESERVE NOTHING is a powerful, absorbing novel and Alexander Maksik is an unusually gifted writer' -- Tom