Auden said that for an adult reader, the possible verdicts are five; here's mine. Sittenfeld can write; she does what she does very well. But it's not to my taste. I enjoyed so much about this book. But her brief yet vivid depictions of adolescent sex make me shudder. It’s not because they’re badly written, or particularly graphic: I think it’s because she nails it. These passages are painfully accurate, emphasis on painful. They take me right back to scandalous gossip sessions in the high school bathroom, and that’s not a place I’m eager to revisit.

This is the fourth installment of the Jane Austen Project, which invites contemporary authors to rework Jane Austen's novels for modern times. Sittenfeld is no Jane Austen, but she's okay with that: her snappy writing and spirit of playfulness make this such good fun for Jane Austen fans, if you're willing to go with it. (Think what 10 Things I Hate About You did with The Taming of the Shrew. Our modern tale is set in Cincinnati, where Lizzie is re-cast as an NYC-based magazine editor, Jane is a yoga instructor nearing 40, Darcy is a snooty brain surgeon, and Bingley is an ER doctor turned star of the reality show "Eligible," (which, in a running gag, all the characters watch but pretend not to). If you're revolted at the idea of on-screen sex in an Austen remake, or Darcy and Liz spewing profanity, this is NOT for you. The purists will need their smelling salts.

From the publisher: "A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown. When she met boisterous, charismatic Charlie Blackwell, she hardly gave him a second look: She was serious and thoughtful, and he would rather crack a joke than offer a real insight; he was the wealthy son of a bastion family of the Republican party, and she was a school librarian and registered Democrat. Much to her surprise, Alice fell for Charlie. And when Charlie eventually becomes President, Alice is thrust into a position she did not seek–one of power and influence, privilege and responsibility."

Curtis Sittenfeld has a reputation as a "skewerer of subjects" from her bestsellers Prep, American Wife, and her Jane Austen Project novel Eligible. This new collection includes ten stories exploring class, gender roles, and the misconceptions that underpin our lives, by covering Ivy League schools, high school tormentors, and suburban mothers.

We talked about Curtis Sittenfeld's debut novel at the live event at Novel Neighbor bookstore in WSIRN episode 76.

From the publisher: "From the author of American Wife and Eligible . . . He proposed. She said no. And it changed her life forever. In 1971, Hillary Rodham is a young woman full of promise: Life magazine has covered her Wellesley commencement speech, she's attending Yale Law School, and she's on the forefront of student activism and the women’s rights movement. And then she meets Bill Clinton. A handsome, charismatic southerner and fellow law student, Bill is already planning his political career. In each other, the two find a profound intellectual, emotional, and physical connection that neither has previously experienced. But in Curtis Sittenfeld’s powerfully imagined tour-de-force of fiction, Hillary takes a different road. Over the next four decades, she blazes her own trail—one that unfolds in public as well as in private, that involves crossing paths again (and again) with Bill Clinton, that raises questions about the tradeoffs all of us must make in building a life. Brilliantly weaving a riveting fictional tale into actual historical events, Curtis Sittenfeld delivers an uncannily astute and witty story for our times."

From the publisher: "'To read their stories felt to me the way I suspect other people feel hearing jazz for the first time,' recalls Curtis Sittenfeld of her initial encounter with the Best American Short Stories series. 'They were windows into emotions I had and hadn't had, into other settings and circumstances and observations and relationships.' Decades later, Sittenfeld was met by the same feeling selecting the stories for this year's edition. The result is a striking and nuanced collection, bringing to life awkward college students, disgraced public figures, raunchy grandparents, and mystical godmothers. To read these stories is to experience the transporting joys of discovery and affirmation, and to realize that story writing in America continues to flourish. INCLUDES T. C. BOYLE • EMMA CLINE • MARY GAITSKILL • ANDREA LEE • ELIZABETH McCRACKEN • ALEJANDRO PUYANA WILLIAM PEI SHIH • KEVIN WILSON and others"

From team member, Sara: Sittenfeld's latest release packs a one-two punch of celebrity romance and pandemic drama. Comedy writer Sally Millz and heartthrob musician Noah Brewster cross paths when he guest hosts The Night Owls (think Saturday Night Live), but Sally dismisses their obvious chemistry as a one-time anomaly. But when the pandemic hits, they reconnect and realize their spark is still alive. Epistolary novel fans should know that this story delivers some fantastic email exchanges. The ending is satisfyingly hopeful—the perfect summer read. For fans of Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta's The View Was Exhausting and Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over.

From the publisher: "An unnervingly funny and sharply observant story about the privilege, class division, and purposeful lives of old friends by Curtis Sittenfeld. Andy Wofford, middle-aged father and English teacher at a third-tier private school, receives a surprising invitation for a drink from an old college classmate. Once awkward and forgettable, Michael Kinnick has become a famous, wealthy, and absurdly confident lifestyle guru. Of all the people who’d want to catch up, why Michael? After thirty divergent years, why now? Mildly apprehensive, Andy is also very curious. Curtis Sittenfeld's The Tomorrow Box is part of Currency, a compounding collection of stories about wealth, class, competition, and collapse. If time is money, deposit here with interest. Read or listen in a single sitting."