After reading, I listened to Gerber’s online discussion about the book with Anahid Nersessian (writer and poetry editor at Granta), and gained additional nuanced appreciation. Gerber even compared it to Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker, a metafictional novel involving all kinds of transgressive sex stuff which I’ve long deemed literary cool girl canon (so much so, I’ve never gotten around to actually reading it).
What else does she recommend, you ask? Well, there’s Job, the story of a Google standards screener’s post-nervous breakdown with a serious twist ending. And there’s Martyr, about an Iranian immigrant with artistic pursuits. And how about Lillian fishman’s Acts of Service, a novel about a hot three-way affair but, you know, literary?
What is going on here? How can this sheltered daughter of the Golden State have such a sophisticated and far-reaching sensibility? It’s not a question I mull any longer, since I discovered the Library Science credo on its about page: “We learn the most from stories that aren’t our own.” (A great motto for these fractious times, I daresay.) I initially dismissed Kaia as a 23-year-old Malibu girl turned model by genetic lottery—but looking at this list of titles, I see I was so wrong.
The connection between these books is that they make me feel less alone. They also—like Gerber herself—contain surprises that stop you in your tracks.