How Should a Person Be?
Sheila Heti, 2012
Henry Holt and Co.
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780805094725
Summary
Reeling from a failed marriage, Sheila, a twentysomething playwright, finds herself unsure of how to live and create.
When Margaux, a talented painter and free spirit, and Israel, a sexy and depraved artist, enter her life, Sheila hopes that through close—sometimes too close—observation of her new friend, her new lover, and herself, she might regain her footing in art and life.
Using transcribed conversations, real emails, plus heavy doses of fiction, the brilliant and always innovative Sheila Heti crafts a work that is part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part bawdy confessional. It's a totally shameless and dynamic exploration into the way we live now, which breathes fresh wisdom into the eternal questions: What is the sincerest way to love? What kind of person should you be? (From the publisher.)