"Reading [this book] is like driving down the road with a companion
who is so smart and funny and insightful that her conversation
transforms the landscape" (Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of
A Thousand Acres).
The twelve "meticulously observed" stories of Women and Children First
showcase New York Times-bestselling author and National Book Award
finalist Francine Prose at her finest--offering a glimpse into the lives
of men and women searching for connection and meaning in a world that
often seems pre-programmed for absurdity (The New York Times).
An adult daughter struggling to understand her father's newfound Hasidic
faith, an alcoholic trying to improve himself by fasting, a housewife
enrolled in the New Consciousness Academy, a French literature professor
who's begun to fear Madame Bovary, and a young woman seeking direction
from a Tibetan master in the company of neurotic, overeager
followers--these are the achingly, hilariously real people who inhabit
these "wise and witty" stories (Minneapolis Star-Tribune).