Lisa Taddeo

From Lisa Taddeo, #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Three Women and “our most eloquent and faithful chronicler of human desire” (Esquire), Ghost Lover is an electrifying collection of masterful and fearless short stories. Behind anonymous screens, an army of cool and beautiful girls manage the dating service Ghost Lover, a forwarding system for text messages that promises to spare you the anguish of trying to stay composed while communicating with your crush. At a star-studded political fundraiser in a Los Angeles mansion, a trio of women compete to win the heart of the slick guest of honor. On a quest to lose her virginity, a daughter tracks down her deceased mother’s old flame, the rugged, comically named Jon Deere. In these twelve riveting stories, two of which have been awarded the Pushcart Prize, Lisa Taddeo brings to life the fever of obsession, the blindness of love, and the mania of grief. Featuring Taddeo’s arresting prose that continues to thrill her legions of fans, Ghost Lover dares you to look away.

Stories

Ghost Lover

Tabea Lüth

Pastrami is the polar opposite of Los Angeles. 

Florida was all pink clamshells and depression, malls with skylights and surplus palms.

He looked dreamy and broad, and cozy like pizzerias in October. And you thought, This could be forever. We could have a child, and Septembers. 

Her name was Molly. She had a hundred brothers. Her youth was brutal.

Without makeup, her face is the color of ricotta. She smokes five cigarettes before 9am and the ricotta turns gray, like it’s been sea-salted.

 It was early fall, the temperature of ham sandwiches. She sat outside and ordered a pot of Brussels breakfast tea. On her phone she entered the HGTV Dream Home contest. It was the latest iPhone and she thought of all the things she didn’t deserve and all the things she did. 

During breakdown, as the sun cooled and Manhattan twinkled with possibility – rape and cocktails and OpenTable – the men swiped on Tinder and looked at Jane and texted things like, What you up to after. 

But all young people were that way now. Just pubic bones and telephones. 

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