About the Book

Aimee Bender's stunning debut collection, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt," " proved her to be one of the freshest voices in American fiction. Now, in her first novel, she builds on that early promise.
Mona Gray was ten when her father contracted a mysterious illness and she became a quitter, abandoning each of her talents just as pleasure became intense. The only thing she can't stop doing is math: She knocks on wood, adds her steps, and multiplies people in the park against one another. When Mona begins teaching math to second-graders, she finds a ready audience. But the difficult and wonderful facts of life keep intruding. She finds herself drawn to the new science teacher, who has an unnerving way of seeing through her intricately built facade. Bender brilliantly directs her characters, giving them unexpected emotional depth and setting them in a calamitous world, both fancifully surreal and startlingly familiar.

Product Details

Media: Paperback Book, 256 pages

Language: English

Publisher: Anchor Books (Jul. 31st, 2001)

ISBN-10: 0385492243

ISBN-13: 9780385492249

Dimensions: 5.22 x 8.02 x 0.59 inches

Shipping Weight: 0.44 lbs

• Categories: Literary Fiction and Literature