The Best of Animals

The acclaimed first book by the author of the much anticipated new novel, Reproduction Is the Flaw of Love.This highly affecting debut story collection stars a cast of young men and women frozen in the headlights of oncoming adulthood. In nimble prose, Lauren Grodstein treats moments of human vulnerability with a smart mix of irony and compassion. Whether halfheartedly consoling—and then fondling—a drunken friend after a breakup ("Lonely Planet") or trying to fill a dead mother's shoes at a father's birthday dinner ("Satellites or Airplanes"), the protagonists of these ten tales rarely say exactly what they mean or know exactly how they feel. Each has a propensity for social insecurity to which we can all relate, as we can to the public blunders and private triumphs that comprise their lives.

Author Biography: Lauren Grodstein grew up in Haworth, New Jersey. Her writing has appeared in Time Out New York, Virgin Fiction 2, Women's World Magazine, Ontario Review, and elsewhere. She currently lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and teaches at Cooper Union.