An intelligent and madly entertaining debut novel reminiscent of The Crying of Lot 49, White Noise, and City of Glass that is at once a missing-person mystery, an exorcism of modern culture, and a wholly singular vision of contemporary womanhood from a terrifying and often funny voice of a new generation. A woman known only by the letter A lives in an unnamed American city with her roommate, B, and boyfriend, C, who wants her to join him on a reality...

"Today's young women face a bewildering set of contradictions when it comes to beauty. They don't want to be Barbie dolls but, like generations of women before them, are told they must look like them. They're angry about the media's treatment of women but hungrily consume the very outlets that belittle them. They mock modern culture's absurd beauty ideal and make videos exposing Photoshopping tricks, but feel pressured to emulate the same images they...

"Ever since she was little, Leah Vernon was told what to believe and how to act. There wasn't any room for imperfection. Good Muslim girls listened more than they spoke. They didn't have a missing father or a mother with mental illness. They didn't have fat bodies or grow up wishing they could be like the white characters they saw on TV. They didn't have husbands who abused and cheated on them. They certainly didn't have secret abortions. In Unashamed,...

"Many women live their lives believing that they can't ask for what they want until they change something they're unhappy with. No promotion until they get new skills. No relationship until they establish their career. No fulfillment until they find love. One of the most common conditions women place on themselves is weight loss--no love until they lose weight, no sex until they lose weight, no happiness until they lose weight. But Jessica Ortner,...

22 women from 6 to 84 years old, mostly appearing topless, talk about their feelings about their breasts and the role they have played in the women's lives. Interviews are intercut with breast-related archival footage.

"In this modern-retelling of Cinderella, plus-size Cindy dreams of becoming a shoe designer. But when a spot opens up on her stepmother's famous reality dating TV competition, Cindy is thrust into the spotlight in ways she never thought possible"--

The only thing about me that's a size zero is the filter on my mouth. I've got a big personality, a big rack, and a big number on the scale. But when some random guy suggests I might not be eating alone if I'd ordered a salad instead of a hamburger I'm shocked silent, which is a feat, trust me. That brings us to one sexy fireman named Frankie Hartigan. He's hot. He's funny. And he's just apologized for being late for our "date" then glared at the...