NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this moving, poignant novel by the bestselling author of Birds of America—and a master of American fiction—we share a grown woman’s bittersweet nostalgia for the wildness of her youth. 

"An enchanting novel." —The New York Times

The summer Berie was fifteen, she and her best friend Sils had jobs at Storyland in upstate New York where Berie sold tickets to see the beautiful Sils portray Cinderella in a strapless evening gown. They spent their breaks smoking, joking, and gossiping. After work they followed their own reckless rules, teasing the fun out of small town life, sleeping in the family station wagon, and drinking borrowed liquor from old mayonnaise jars. But no matter how wild, they always managed to escape any real danger—until the adoring Berie sees that Sils really does need her help—and then everything changes.

"Touches and dazzles and entertains. An enchanting novel." --The New York Times

In this moving, poignant novel by the bestselling author of Birds of America we share a grown woman's bittersweet nostalgia for the wildness of her youth.

The summer Berie was fifteen, she and her best friend Sils had jobs at Storyland in upstate New York where Berie sold tickets to see the beautiful Sils portray Cinderella in a strapless evening gown. They spent their breaks smoking, joking, and gossiping. After work they followed their own reckless rules, teasing the fun out of small town life, sleeping in the family station wagon, and drinking borrowed liquor from old mayonnaise jars. But no matter how wild, they always managed to escape any real danger-until the adoring Berie sees that Sils really does need her help-and then everything changes.

"Touches and dazzles and entertains. An enchanting novel." --The New York Times

"Exquisite...exhilarting.... Balanced adriotly on the fine line between laughter and tears." --Chicago Tribune

"The extraordinarily talented Lorrie Moore presents the lives of Sils and Berie and the atmosphere of the upstate town they live in with a subtle, moving, and often outright brilliance." "--Los Angeles Times 

"This novel is like a hand-painted Russian Easter egg, a Chinese sleeve piece done in blind stitch; painstaking, breathtaking beauty in miniature. [Moore] creates a gorgeous, terrifying picture." --Washington Post Book World 

"This is more than a girls' coming-of-age story. . . . Ms. Moore was always able to make readers laugh out loud. This is the first of her works that can bring them to tears as well." --The New York Times Book Review