Single, Carefree, Mellow (eBook)

'Katherine Heiny's work does something magical: elevates the mundane so that it has the stakes of a mystery novel, gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve - and makes you laugh along the way' Lena Dunham In the title story, we meet Maya, who is torn between her wryly funny boyfriend and the allure of her veterinarian. In 'Andorra,' a woman's lover calls her every Thursday as he drives to meet his wife at marriage counselling. 'How to Give the Wrong Impression' shows us a woman pining for her roommate, a man who will hold her hand but then tell her that her palm is sweaty. In 'The Dive Bar' a girl agrees to have a drink with her married lover's wife. Revisiting Maya in several stories, chronicling her various states of love, this is a collection about how we are unfaithful to each other, both wilfully and unwittingly. Populated with unwelcome house guests, disastrous birthday parties, needy but loyal friends, and flirtatious older men, the stories are emotionally astute, sexy, and disarming-and they introduce us to a tart, and marvellous, new voice.

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The wonderful story collection from the author of Standard Deviation'Heiny's work does something magical: gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve and makes you laugh along the way' Lena Dunham'Like Cheever mixed with Ephron' New York Times'Simply wonderful, I savoured every page' GuardianMaya's dog is dying, and she is planning to leave her boyfriend. On the whole she feels worse about the dog.Nina thought it might be difficult to summon the moral fortitude to have an extramarital affair with a Presbyterian minister living above the garbage, but she discovers that almost anything is possible.A teenager finds an affair with her history teacher too sealed off from the rest of her life, like the last slice of cake under a glass dome.These women are best friends, roommates and mistresses. They tipple and titillate, fantasize and fumble, worry and wander. They make poor choices in men and children's magicians and wise choices in what to wear to meet their lovers' wives. None of them are single (or carefree or mellow) but all are irresistible and all too familiar.