Like a dog

By Tara Jepsen

Subjects: Self-realization in women, FICTION / Family Life, FICTION / Literary, Fiction, family life, FICTION / Coming of Age, Fiction, Brothers and sisters, Drug addicts, FICTION / Contemporary Women, Self-actualization (Psychology) in women

Description: "Paloma is aimlessly winging it through life. A skateboarder in her early 30s, she takes low-paying jobs, drinks neon-colored wine coolers in the park with her best friend, and drives to the Central Valley to skate the empty swimming pools dotting the sun-blasted landscape. Paloma struggles to have a relationship with her brother Peter, whose opiate addiction makes that nearly impossible. She enjoys occasional doses of something like closeness whenever Peter is sober, and these rare moments keep her lunging for his affections. Her delusions about the nature of addiction--along with a steady intake of alcohol--manage to keep the looming threat of his death by overdose at a comfortable enough distance. When Peter lands a lucrative position managing a pot farm in Mendocino County, he offers Paloma a job. She shines in her new role, selling weed to celebrities in Los Angeles and making good money for the first time. With a new sense of self-confidence she decides to try out the world of stand-up comedy, and though she's absolutely terrible at it, she's happier than she's ever been. As Peter slides into a dangerous spiral, Paloma does her best to roll with the ups and downs, life's beginnings and endings"--