Iris Has Free Time
The cover should appeal to all the Sex and the City fans out there: a young, Carrie-like girl with long, curly hair, and wearing a tutu, struts down a crowded New York City sidewalk. But this story about a class-of-2000 NYU grad is more Girls than SATC. Wistfully narrating her story in the first person, Iris Smyles, a girl with “intricately designed daydreams,” is never short on youthful antics: passing out in the New Yorker’s cartoon office as an intern; struggling to become a writer while blogging about her ex’s small penis; and subsisting on weird food combinations (deviled eggs made with chocolate syrup). And, of course, there are the men. A slew of ex-boyfriends and regrets and sex litters the landscape as Iris wrestles with the concept of growing up. The novel, which moves back and forth in time, meanders; although frustrating at times, this narrative technique effectively captures Iris’ restlessness. Smyles (the author, not the character) depicts a particular moment in time—that awkward place between being a kid and being an adult—and the results are often hilarious, often tinged with sadness, but always authentic. --Ann Kelley