“Holohan’s prose pops and crackles as he combines an outlandish yet convincing vision of a tech-dominated future reminiscent of William Gibson with the wry wit of Neil Gaiman, and the result proves exceedingly funny . . . Holohan’s silly dystopia, replete with ridiculous place names (“Newer York” and “Grander Central Station”) and winking acronyms (“Consumer-Responsive Unscripted Drama”), strikes an utterly enjoyable medium between Futurama and Infinite Jest . . . A raucous, engrossing, unsettling whirlwind of a story that is as disarmingly novel as it is disturbingly familiar.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“In a dystopian cyberpunk future, the eponymous reality show replaces the governments of small countries with underqualified contestants who struggle to lead, all for the sake of mass entertainment.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[A] wacky, freewheeling cyberpunk story by the author of The Brothers’ Lot.”
—Booklist

“Original, deftly crafted, iconoclastic, thought-provoking, entertaining, and very definitely a novel for our times, So You Wanna Run a Country? will have a very special appeal to readers with an interest in cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic science fiction.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Nothing this madcap should be this chilling. A heat-seeking missile for the facades which dress despotism up and give it cover, So You Wanna Run a Country? is fueled by that scorching satire we saw in Kevin Holohan’s debut, The Brothers’ Lot—but this time the whole planet’s on fire. Visionary, virtuosic, and violently funny, this novel looks directly at the eclipse that is twenty-first-century life and somehow comes away with the strangest floaters of hope.”
—Belinda McKeon, author of Tender

“Here’s a book of rare and savory humor. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the story, the silky political subtext—echoes of Gibson and Orwell—the integrity of the imagined world, and something all-prevalent and crafted so subtly as scarcely to draw attention to itself: the author’s trust in the reader’s intelligence. The projection of the digital world of spectacle leaves a chilling aftertaste that is both timely and salutary, yet there is a note of hope and yearning that soars beyond the allegorical and satirical strands of the story.”
—Theo Dorgan, author of Orpheus

ADDITIONAL PRAISE FOR KEVIN HOLOHAN:

“[Holohan] possesses his own distinct voice. Especially useful as therapy for recovering Catholics or to tweak apologists of the church, this impressive debut is highly recommended.”
—Library Journal, starred review of The Brothers’ Lot