Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

New York

Stories

“A dark wonder. An often harrowing (and in parts, very, very funny) debut, it targets the unfathomable nonsense of relationships, work and modern living with a keen eye, head-spinning wordplay and enough compassion to crush your heart. Buy it for everyone you know." —The Skinny She finds herself single, twenty-nine, partially-employed, and about a half a stone overweight. Roller dexter of eligible friends rattling thin. Thirties breathing down her neck like an inappropriate uncle. She jogs. Looks good in turquoise. Finds herself punctuating gas “better out than in!” patting her stomach like a department store Santa. This is who I am, she thinks. The women in Lara Williams’ debut story collection, A Selfie as Big as the Ritz, navigate the tumultuous interval between early twenties and middle age. In the title story, a relationship implodes against the romantic backdrop of Paris. In “One of Those Life Things,” a young woman struggles to say the right thing at her best friend’s abortion. In “Penguins,” a girlfriend tries to accept her boyfriend’s bizarre sexual fantasy. In “Treats,” a single woman comes to terms with her loneliness. As Williams’ characters attempt to lean in, fall in love, hold together a family, fend off loneliness, and build a meaningful life, we see them alternating between expectation and resignation, giddiness and melancholy, the rollercoaster we all find ourselves on.

A Selfie As Big As the Ritz

79d63329-1178-41ee-8e76-90d1e2e14ded-1

Lara Williams

#hardcover #fiction #larawilliams #shortstories 

North Carolina

New Jersey

A Novel

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by The Millions, a Best Book to Read in April by Town & Country and The AV Club, and one of 2022's Best Beach Reads by Southern Living

"Read if you like: Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation, artificial flavors, avoidant behavior, wondering what a 'lifestyle' is and whether you have one." --Molly Young, The New York Times

"This book is a serious vibe . . . it's a slyly poignant satire on cruise ships, crappy jobs, and capitalism." --Cosmopolitan

"Darkly comic existential fiction at its best." --Culture Whisper (UK)

"Deliciously unpredictable" --Mateo Askaripour, author of Black Buck

"Utterly sharp, slyly humorous . . . Startlingly unique and beautifully written." --Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face

From the queen of modern satire and prize-winning author of Supper Club--a debut novel that Vogue called "Stephanie Danler's Sweetbitter meets Donna Tartt's The Secret History"--comes The Odyssey, a fresh twist on the classic epic journey. 


Williams delivers another thought-provoking satire about one woman's lonely journey working aboard a luxury cruise ship and her attempts to navigate its complex work environment, the absurdity of life on and offshore, and the ever-changing seas of love and friendships. This surreal trip is an unapologetic takedown of capitalism will appeal to fans of Melissa Broder and Ottessa Moshfegh. 





The Odyssey

6170e177-ff66-4efc-a949-915d7cf7d55a-1

Pennsylvania

A sharply intelligent and intimate debut novel about a secret society of hungry young women who meet after dark and feast to reclaim their appetites--and their physical spaces--that posits the question: if you feed a starving woman, what will she grow into? Roberta spends her life trying not to take up space. At almost thirty, she is adrift and alienated from life. Stuck in a mindless job and reluctant to pursue her passion for food, she suppresses her appetite and recedes to the corners of rooms. But when she meets Stevie, a spirited and effervescent artist, their intense friendship sparks a change in Roberta, a shift in her desire for more. Together, they invent the Supper Club, a transgressive and joyous collective of women who gather to celebrate, rather than admonish, their hungers. They gather after dark and feast until they are sick; they break into private buildings and leave carnage in their wake; they embrace their changing bodies; they stop apologizing. For these women, each extraordinary yet unfulfilled, the club is a way to explore, discover, and push the boundaries of the space they take up in the world. Yet as the club expands, growing both in size and rebellion, Roberta is forced to reconcile herself to the desire and vulnerabilities of the body--and the past she has worked so hard to repress. Devastatingly perceptive and savagely funny, Supper Club is an essential coming-of-age story for our times.

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Lara Williams

A Selfie As Big As the Ritz

Lara Williams

A Selfie As Big As the Ritz

Lara Williams

A Selfie As Big As the Ritz

Lara Williams

The Odyssey

Lara Williams

Supper Club

Lara Williams

The Odyssey