Expect to hear a lot more about this New York-based author in the months and years to come, as the ten short stories in this book capture the tone of a generation which faces a future of lowered expectations, so focuses its energies on relationships instead. A young woman tries to bond with her mother by bringing 50 sets of Victoria’s Secret underwear to Mexico with her to sell to the local teens, while under pressure from her girlfriend to use the trip to tell her mom she’s gay. Another, who wanted to be a scientist, winds up working in an STD clinic and gets a particularly tricky client. The title character has an acceptance letter from Princeton, but in the meantime has to endure a depressing variety of high-school slut-shaming abuse for the transgression of openly enjoying sex. The narrators can be a bit interchangeable, but that’s a small price for 10 smart stories crackling with vibrancy and quirkiness.
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