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 consolingand then fondlinga 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.