"Leave everyone else so that you don’t feel any pressure to perform. Instead, you should stare at the pristine water and think about miracles and landmines and the Syrian Civil War and feel nothing.”

The Hands of G-d

"He was so distraught that he yelled at her in front of everyone about how he needed to sit in his pew no later than ten minutes before Mass so that his wife’s soul would be accepted into heaven.”

All That Is Seen and Unseen

"Her decision to end things with Alex was supposed to reinvigorate her creativity. Instead, she became obsessive about watching Jeopardy! every night, and she studied customer reviews of a Gwyneth Paltrow-approved vibrator..."

Gods & Mentors

"Her screams always made me cry. I couldn’t give her much, but we could share our dissatisfaction with our lives through tears and shouts. My mother and I never had a special language like this. I never knew she had feelings at all until I was 20..."

Thriving

"Sophie had only been to Skokie to visit his family once, but it was nothing like Detroit or even the house they’d moved into with Jeff in Redford. Redford was nothing like Skokie, and Skokie wasn’t Grosse Pointe."

How to Survive an Afternoon at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club Park

"Once, Ellen told her she liked one of the women’s outfits and that she’d like to be a prostitute when she grew up. She didn’t know what a prostitute was, but she understood she should feel embarrassed..."

World's Finest Showgirls

"The receptionist was in her late 40s and had bleached blonde hair in a bun and skin that was no stranger to a tanning booth. Women like this always scared Julia because she was never so put together."

Debbie Miszak

Selected work