16 Books to Curl Up With This Fall
With the switch of summer to fall comes an exciting and varied new book list—Ring in the new season with these twisted fantasies, profound autobiographies and vivid collections of short stories.
By Roxane Gay, Leigh Haber and Sarah Meyer
3 of 16
Barbara the Slut and Other People
By Lauren Holmes
272 pages;
Riverhead Books
Lauren Holmes's debut, Barbara the Slut and Other People, is a book of deceptively simple short stories that pivot around themes of bullying, sadness and shame. With polished prose and a wry dash of Miranda July—esque humor, Holmes has creative a normcore cast of characters who stumble to communicate, withhold their true identities and soldier through the slow letdowns of life; a daughter who attempts to rekindle a relationship with her mother, who is trying to earn a buck by selling lingerie in a Mexican resort town: an undergrad who won't let her beater of a car or a foiled family vacation keep her from breaking up with her boyfriend; a persnickety pit bull that falls for its owner's lover, a Swiss PhD with a fear of dogs. Like a shot of espresso, these tales awaken the senses and invigorate the daily grind.
— Sarah Meyer
Published 08/17/2015