The Flaw of Love Book

This is a novel about family, love and uncertainty. Joel Miller is waiting for his girlfriend Lisa to take a pregnancy test. He hasn't planned to be a father, he's not even sure he wants to be a father, but as of a couple of hours ago it's a very real possibility. Lisa isn't the love of Miller's life - theirs is a relationship which happened by accident rather than by design - but as Lisa, locked in the bathroom, stalls for time by doing her make-up and taking a bath, he realises he might now be bound to her forever. And so, while his future is decided for him behind a closed door, he tries to make sense of his past. As Miller thinks back, he starts to look more closely at his turbulent childhood and his parents' dysfunctional marriage; at his relationships with his complex father and his difficult, unpredictable mother. But, most of all, he thinks about his failed relationship with Blair, the woman he loved but couldn't hold on to ...An everyman for his generation, Miller explores his relationships with a remarkable combination of irony, acerbic wit, astute observation and generosity. Both hilarious and heartbreaking, "Reproduction is the Flaw of Love" is a startlingly original, profoundly moving debut novel. Lauren Grodstein grew up in New Jersey, and received a BA and an MFA from Columbia University. Her stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in "Virgin Fiction 2", "Ontario Review", "Before and After: Stories from New York", and "Time Out New York". She is a frequent contributor to mrbellersneighborhood.com. Her collection of short stories, "The Best of Animals" was published in 2002 by Persea Books. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Praise for Laura Grodstein's collection of short stories, "The Best of Animals": 'Agile prose and clever observations' - "The New York Times" Review of Books. 'Grodstein captures the uncertain nuances of the mating game in her impressive debut collection ...Grodstein's quirky voice and sassy, ironic humor make these stories come alive' - "Publishers Weekly".Read More