An Author a Day for Thirty Days: Day 8

So this simple idea of writing about an author a day has now become a sort of competition between Liz and me. As you know, the original idea was to feature an author that we either haven’t written much about, or have missed altogether.  Unfortunately what it has morphed into is trying to pick an author before the other one picks it.

Liz is trapped in a snowstorm or something like it in Durango, giving me an opportunity for the steal. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you….Mary Gaitskill. Now we’ve written about Gaitskill in a peripheral sense but never featured one of her books. That's absolutely ridiculous since I personally have never read one of her books that I didn’t like. My favorite is her story collection entitled Bad Behavior, but Veronica is a close second.  

Gaitskill is a writer for grown ups. She is a serious thinker and a writer of serious subjects. You will not read her books on a beach, under an umbrella, slathered in suntan lotion. When you do read her books, you will have a holy shit moment, because Mary Gaitskill just dropped some major knowledge on your ass. Do the kids still use that phrase?

Lastly, remember that list I saw in GQ or whatever last month, the list of writers men should read? Mary Gaitskill should be on that list.