“Gripping and entertaining...you know you're in the hands of a writer to whom the novel form is, when all's said, as natural as an old overcoat... A quirky, often brilliant debut, bounced along by limitless energy”
— Hilary Mantel in the New York Review of Books
“Powerfully intelligent . . . There's magic in the way that Mr. Berlinski, in command of fact and emotion, pilots this big novel safely home.”
— Dwight Garner, New York Times
“Wonderfully constructed, witty, warm, wise, and filled with an extraordinary sense of the relation between theater and life”
— Kirkus Reviews
“This is storytelling of the highest quality: richly entertaining, intelligent and anchored in a deep sense of humanity”
— Tash Aw, Guardian
“An instant-classic New York novel about theater, aging, sex and love”
— Joshua Cohen, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning The Netanyahus
“Berlinski deserves a standing ovation for this bravura performance.”
— Publishers Weekly
“A killer novel... A great story... You can't stop reading.”
— Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
“Formidable”
— James Wood, New Yorker
Mona Acts Out
Year
2025
Pages
368
Praise
“Gripping and entertaining...you know you're in the hands of a writer to whom the novel form is, when all's said, as natural as an old overcoat... A quirky, often brilliant debut, bounced along by limitless energy”
— Hilary Mantel in the New York Review of Books
“Powerfully intelligent . . . There's magic in the way that Mr. Berlinski, in command of fact and emotion, pilots this big novel safely home.”
— Dwight Garner, New York Times
“Wonderfully constructed, witty, warm, wise, and filled with an extraordinary sense of the relation between theater and life”
— Kirkus Reviews
“This is storytelling of the highest quality: richly entertaining, intelligent and anchored in a deep sense of humanity”
— Tash Aw, Guardian
“An instant-classic New York novel about theater, aging, sex and love”
— Joshua Cohen, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning The Netanyahus
“Berlinski deserves a standing ovation for this bravura performance.”
— Publishers Weekly
“A killer novel... A great story... You can't stop reading.”
— Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
“Formidable”
— James Wood, New Yorker
Description
What to read after Mona Acts Out.
Tell us what you’re craving.









