Bad Behavior (Stories)

BOOK SUMMARY

Now towering and inevitable in its influence on writing by and for young urbanites, Bad Behavior heralded Mary Gaitskill's arrival on the literary scene and her establishment as one of the sharpest writing talents of her time, or any time: exquisitely funny and startlingly honest; bold and eye-opening on relationships, sex, and the erotic.

Set in Manhattan's Lower East Side and peopled with artistic freelancers and intelligent sex workers, smug yuppies and love-torn masochists, Bad Behavior depicts a world equally cruel and tender, where romance and danger go hand in hand. Gaitskill delivers unforgettable stories of a disenchanted and rebellious urban fringe generation groping for human connection.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Gaitskill is the author of the story collections Bad Behavior, Because They Wanted To (nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award), and Don't Cry, and the novels The Mare, Veronica (nominated for the National Book Award), and Two Girls, Fat and Thin. Her stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Artforum, and Granta, among many other journals, as well as in The Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories.

PRAISE

"With her first published gathering of stories, we meet a vital and gifted new writer, one whose work has an unusual importance at this time... technically, they are lean and quick and spare, tightly controlled... style always works for substance... this is such a built collection, structured so that each story leads into the next, creating a new world." — The New York Times

"Stubbornly original, with a sort of rhythm and fine moments that flatten you out when you don't expect it, these stories are a pleasure to read." — Alice Munro

"An air of Pinteresque menace hangs over these people's social exchanges... Gaitskill writes with such authority, such radar-perfect detail." — Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Book type: Paperback
Page count: 224
Genre: Fiction
Dimensions: 8" | 5.19"