MacGregor Tells the World

The highly acclaimed author of Stop That Girl delivers a masterfully plotted debut novel–at once a mystery of identity, sly literary satire, and coming-of age story–capturing a young man’s impossible and heroic first love.

Twenty-two-year-old MacGregor West, orphaned as a boy, is on a quest: to understand the circumstances of his mother’s untimely death. On a foggy San Francisco evening, guided by an old stack of envelopes, Mac finds himself at the mansion of cultural icon Charles Ware, where he encounters the writer’s beautiful and enigmatic daughter, Carolyn, trapped in a fold-up bed. Upon freeing her, Mac plunges headlong into the world of the eccentric Ware family and a love affair with a woman whose murky history may be closely linked to his own.

MacGregor Tells the World is a poignant and often hilarious ride through present-day San Francisco, a city brimming with memorable characters who help Mac discover just what story is his to tell.

Praise for Elizabeth McKenzie’s Stop That Girl
“Elizabeth McKenzie is an accomplished humorist and a developed stylist, and she wastes no time dazzling the reader with her clean direct language, her simple but searing use of metaphor and her unflinching eye.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Single-handedly reinvigorate[s] the coming-of-age genre. . . . Here is a writer to watch, and a book to breeze through with glee.”
–San Francisco Chronicle

The highly acclaimed author of Stop That Girl delivers a masterfully plotted debut novel–at once a mystery of identity, sly literary satire, and coming-of age story–capturing a young man’s impossible and heroic first love.

Twenty-two-year-old MacGregor West, orphaned as a boy, is on a quest: to understand the circumstances of his mother’s untimely death. On a foggy San Francisco evening, guided by an old stack of envelopes, Mac finds himself at the mansion of cultural icon Charles Ware, where he encounters the writer’s beautiful and enigmatic daughter, Carolyn, trapped in a fold-up bed. Upon freeing her, Mac plunges headlong into the world of the eccentric Ware family and a love affair with a woman whose murky history may be closely linked to his own.

MacGregor Tells the World is a poignant and often hilarious ride through present-day San Francisco, a city brimming with memorable characters who help Mac discover just what story is his to tell.

Praise for Elizabeth McKenzie’s Stop That Girl
“Elizabeth McKenzie is an accomplished humorist and a developed stylist, and she wastes no time dazzling the reader with her clean direct language, her simple but searing use of metaphor and her unflinching eye.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Single-handedly reinvigorate[s] the coming-of-age genre. . . . Here is a writer to watch, and a book to breeze through with glee.”
–San Francisco Chronicle

School Library Journal

Adult/High School -MacGregor West is a lost soul. Orphaned as a boy, he is now 22 and desperate to piece together any semblance of truth about his mother's life and, by so doing, discover his own identity. Guided by a stack of envelopes belonging to his mother, Mac finds himself at the San Francisco mansion of famed author Charles Ware and meets Ware's daughter Carolyn. Through their relationship, Mac is pulled into the eccentric Ware clan and finds that their history may be linked to his own. McKenzie has created a unique young man whose touching and often hilarious story will entice readers, especially teens who have an affinity for Chris Crutcher and Ned Vizzini. Mac has bounced from one job to the next-library page, piano mover, pizza delivery boy-and readers will no doubt identify with his dilemma of having too many choices in life. The novel is also a love affair with San Francisco, and the city acts as a character that Mac relies on to complete his genealogical journey.-Jennifer Waters, Red Deer Public Library, Alberta, Canada