Normal People Don't Live Like This (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780892553549)

At the center of this startling fiction debut is Leah Levinson, a teen at sea in the anonymous ordeals of a middle-class upbringing on the Upper West Side in the 1970s. In ten installments, written from varying perspectives, we witness her uneasy relationships with faster, looser peers--girls she is drawn to but also alienated by.

No one, though, alienates Leah more than her mother, Helen. Estranged yet intertwined, they struggle within the confines of their personalities, unaware of how similar their paths are. Just when they seem at a lonely impasse, each makes an impulsive change--Leah taking a risky trip abroad, Helen renting a secret room in a welfare hotel. Jolted from their old patterns, the two of them independently glimpse the possibility of a more hopeful life.

Dylan Landis is a gifted portraitist of unforgettable female characters. Normal People Don't Live Like This is a striking debut.

Author: Dylan Landis
ISBN-10: 0892553545
ISBN-13: 9780892553549
Publisher: Persea Books
Language: English
Published: 09/01/2009
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.16h x 5.42w x 0.51d

Review Citation(s):
Vanity Fair 09/01/2009 pg. 162
Booklist 09/15/2009 pg. 30