Five Things I Can't Live Without
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A funny, charming novel about a young woman who can't stop herself from overthinking everything as she figures out what's truly important to her.
On paper, Nora's life looks perfect. She's moving in with her boyfriend Dan, she has a stable job and a great group of friends. But she's stuck in what she refers to as "meta-life," the plight of overthinking and secondguessing to the point of self-sabotage. One day at work, Nora decides to thwart her meta-life by following her instincts. In what feels like a moment of revelation, she quits her job. Immediately, her meta-life goes into overdrive: What on earth was she thinking--and what is she going to do now?
Fortunately, when a friend asks Nora to rewrite her Internet dating profile, she realizes that not only is she good at it, but she really enjoys it. Billing herself as a Cyrano de Bergerac for the lovelorn, Nora finally begins to find professional success. But soon, Nora's meta-life has latched onto the question she's asked so many clients: What are the five things she can't live without? Is her flourishing business one of them? Is Dan? With each new client and each step she takes in her own relationship, she must confront her biggest demon--her self-sabotaging "meta-life." But will she be able to slay it forever?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nora, a non-committal 29-year-old suffering from ho-hum career and relationship angst, is the star of Shumas's rocky debut. In short order, Nora impulsively quits her job at a San Francisco animal shelter, moves in-perhaps prematurely-with boyfriend Dan (she didn't really like her roommate all that much, anyway) and ends up ghostwriting bios for Internet daters. She's also deeply involved in her "meta-life," in which she constantly (and, on many occasions, annoyingly) analyzes the way she feels about how she's feeling about what she's doing. Nora begins to learn from her clients, but her nagging uncertainty about figuring what she wants threatens to sabotage her relationship. It takes her a while, and the process isn't always riveting reading, but Nora gets herself sorted out. To her credit, Shumas extracts from Nora's self-involvement a handful of funny moments.
