New York: Simon & Schuster, (2000.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Fourth novel by this award winning writer and regional winner of the Granta's Best Young American Novelists competition, the story of a poet who has both lost her ability to write and is approaching her 38th birthday. "I make jokes to deflect the sorry truths about myself, and I use snide comments to camouflage hurt, and I'm good at it." Lila wants to live freely in a world that favors discipline and orderly existence, especially for women approaching the end of their childbearing years. 203 pp. ISBN: 0-88064-157-6.