The Last Will & Testament of Zelda McFigg

The Humorous Story of a One-Woman Train Wreck-Winner of Black Lawrence Press's Big Moose Prize (revised 2nd edition)

Meet Zelda McFigg. She is 4-feet 11-inches tall, 237 pounds, and convinced that she could be somebody, if only someone would recognize her inner beauty and star quality. Cousin to Ignatius J. Reilly (A Confederacy of Dunces) and Homer Simpson, Zelda runs away from home at age 14, and at age 49 ¼ writes this furiously funny memoir to "set the record straight" about her lifetime of indiscretions.

Behind Zelda's rollicking tale of destruction lies a story of exile. Exile from oneself. Readers will see much more about Zelda than she knows about herself. Says author Susan Trott (The Holy Man series and many other books), "Ingenious comic author Betsy Robinson, in finely wrought prose, tells the life story of Zelda McFigg. Zelda is a heavyweight, seemingly guided or misguided by a ruinous wrath and the feeling that dishonesty is the best policy. Robinson designs a remarkable pilgrimage for Zelda and uncovers under her many, many layers, a sorrowful affectionate heart."

The Something Wordy Blog calls the book "Mark Twain-esque [with an] undercurrent flowing through it: direct, call-a-spade-a-spade honesty, that had me laughing, while I actually wanted to cry."

"Zelda is an iconic voice of our media-struck age, ferociously trying to rectify the gross injustice of her non-celebrity. A character angry, proud, and desperate to be seen."
-John Sayles, writer and filmmaker

"A thoroughly delightful new novel--in parts funny, tragic, angry, heartbreaking, caustic, absurd and totally all-too true. A comic geschrei from the heart, and pleasure from first page to last!"
-Steve Kaplan, script consultant, author of The Hidden Tools of Comedy