February 27, 2012
A frank examination of romance in the digital age drives Shapiro's lively debut novel (after a short story collection, Eternal City). Set in Kansas City, her tale follows a group of female friends as they attempt to understand the role of technology in their romantic lives. Divorced mother Katie navigates the "dog-eat-dog world of Internet dating," while painter Maxine avoids the reality of her sexless marriage by obsessing over celebrity gossip sites. Annie, a marketing director and native New Yorker, learns the pitfalls of searching for a sperm donor online, and Claudia, put off by her unemployed husband's Facebook addiction ("e went on a frenzied friend-acquisition spreeâ¦"), begins a flirtation with a co-worker. Shapiro skillfully interweaves their stories, and peppers the narrative with sharp observations on relationships both real and virtual. As warm as it is witty, Shapiro's fiction outing emphasizes the importance of genuine connection, wherever it might be found.