Based on the belief that there's more to women's lives than just getting a date, Gilman's stories tell of struggling to get a life and a clue-and engaging in some spectacularly demented behavior along the way. Whether she's an uncool white kid in a tough Puerto Rican neighborhood twirling around in her tutu, a teenager chasing rock stars, an ambitious cub reporter realizing there's more to the world than her own navel, or a feminist bride-to-be unexpectedly finding nirvana in David's Bridal Salon, Gilman's memoir is so engaging it reads like the very best fiction. At turns heartbreaking, insightful, and screamingly funny, it uniquely chronicles a generation-and heralds a talented writer of note.