Synopses & Reviews
Named a Best Book of 2015 by NPR, Bustle, Gawker, Lit Hub, Book Riot, Pure Wow, and Publisher’s Weekly
"Holmes trains a precise lens on the millennial generation's mixed bag of manners, mores, and machinations… In [these] beautifully brazen stories, worlds collide in fresh, imaginative ways." —Elle
A fresh, honest, and darkly funny debut collection about family, friends, and lovers, and the flaws that make us most human.
Fearless, candid, and incredibly funny, Lauren Holmes is a newcomer who writes like a master. She tackles eros and intimacy with a deceptively light touch, a keen awareness of how their nervous systems tangle and sometimes short-circuit, and a genius for revealing our most vulnerable, spirited selves.
In "Desert Hearts," a woman takes a job selling sex toys in San Francisco rather than embark on the law career she pursued only for the sake of her father. In "Pearl and the Swiss Guy Fall in Love," a woman realizes she much prefers the company of her pit bull—and herself—to the neurotic foreign fling who won't decamp from her apartment. In "How Am I Supposed to Talk to You?" a daughter hauls a suitcase of lingerie to Mexico for her flighty, estranged mother to resell there, wondering whether her personal mission—to come out—is worth the same effort. And in "Barbara the Slut," a young woman with an autistic brother, a Princeton acceptance letter, and a love of sex navigates her high school's toxic, slut-shaming culture with open eyes.
With heart, sass, and pitch-perfect characters, Barbara the Slut is a head-turning debut from a writer with a limitless career before her.
Review
"In these 10 stories, Holmes shows she is uninterested in what people think of her, and more interested in painting portraits of very different women who all have one thing in common: they just want to be loved… It turns out the old saying is wrong; some books you can judge by their covers." BUST, "OMG AMAZING" rating
Review
"With polished prose and a wry dash of Miranda July-esque humor, Holmes has created a normcore cast of characters who stumble to communicate, withhold their true identities, and soldier through the slow letdowns of life…Like a shot of espresso, these tales awaken the senses and invigorate the daily grind." O, The Oprah Magazine
Review
"[Holmes'] narrators are often women who are funny, imaginative, and yes, a little slutty. But like in the case of Amy Schumer’s comedic persona, sluttiness isn’t necessarily a bad thing… And in a time when most women don’t truly own the word 'slut', much less claim it, the book is a rallying cry… as Holmes's Barbara quickly figures out, 'slut' is only a word. And Holmes's collection dares us to treat it that way: in the pages of her book and beyond." The Washington Post
Review
"There isn’t a bad part of Barbara the Slut… The stories in this book are sometimes painful, sometimes brilliantly funny, and most often both; Holmes can find the humor in the worst situations, and the tragedy in the most glorious moments. But it’s her characters that carry the stories — imperfect, difficult and defiantly human." NPR
Review
"Like the best work of Mary Gaitskill, Barbara the Slut turns our obsession with sex on its head in order to study it, dissect it, weaponize it. Case in point: the promiscuous high school student who finds the word slut painted on her locker. Where other young women might buckle at the slur, she likes the color of paint the vandals used. She refuses to be shamed, and her refusal is empowering, rare, and well, pretty sexy." Esquire, Summer Reading List
Synopsis
Named a Best Book of 2015 by NPR, Bustle, Gawker, Lit Hub, Book Riot, Pure Wow, andPublisher's Weekly Holmes trains a precise lens on the millennial generation s mixed bag of manners, mores, and machinations In these] beautifully brazen stories, worlds collide in fresh, imaginative ways. Elle A fresh, honest, and darkly funny debut collection about family, friends, and lovers, and the flaws that make us most human. Fearless, candid, and incredibly funny, Lauren Holmes is a newcomer who writes like a master. She tackles eros and intimacy with a deceptively light touch, a keen awareness of how their nervous systems tangle and sometimes short-circuit, and a genius for revealing our most vulnerable, spirited selves.
In Desert Hearts, a woman takes a job selling sex toys in San Francisco rather than embark on the law career she pursued only for the sake of her father. In Pearl and the Swiss Guy Fall in Love, a woman realizes she much prefers the company of her pit bull and herself to the neurotic foreign fling who won t decamp from her apartment. In How Am I Supposed to Talk to You? a daughter hauls a suitcase of lingerie to Mexico for her flighty, estranged mother to resell there, wondering whether her personal mission to come out is worth the same effort. And in Barbara the Slut, a young woman with an autistic brother, a Princeton acceptance letter, and a love of sex navigates her high school s toxic, slut-shaming culture with open eyes.
With heart, sass, and pitch-perfect characters,
Barbara the Slut is a head-turning debut from a writer with a limitless career before her.
From the Hardcover edition."
Synopsis
"Holmes trains a precise lens on the millennial generation's mixed bag of manners, mores, and machinations... In these] beautifully brazen stories, worlds collide in fresh, imaginative ways." --Elle
A fresh, honest, and darkly funny debut collection about family, friends, and lovers, and the flaws that make us most human.
Fearless, candid, and incredibly funny, Lauren Holmes is a newcomer who writes like a master. She tackles eros and intimacy with a deceptively light touch, a keen awareness of how their nervous systems tangle and sometimes short-circuit, and a genius for revealing our most vulnerable, spirited selves.
In "Desert Hearts," a woman takes a job selling sex toys in San Francisco rather than embark on the law career she pursued only for the sake of her father. In "Pearl and the Swiss Guy Fall in Love," a woman realizes she much prefers the company of her pit bull--and herself--to the neurotic foreign fling who won't decamp from her apartment. In "How Am I Supposed to Talk to You?" a daughter hauls a suitcase of lingerie to Mexico for her flighty, estranged mother to resell there, wondering whether her personal mission--to come out--is worth the same effort. And in "Barbara the Slut," a young woman with an autistic brother, a Princeton acceptance letter, and a love of sex navigates her high school's toxic, slut-shaming culture with open eyes.
With heart, sass, and pitch-perfect characters, Barbara the Slut is a head-turning debut from a writer with a limitless career before her.
About the Author
Lauren Holmes grew up in upstate New York. She received a BA from Wellesley College and an MFA from Hunter College, where she was a Hertog Fellow and a teaching fellow. Her work has appeared in Granta, where she was a 2014 New Voice, and in Guernica. Holmes lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.