This Is Serious!

Ann Beattie arrived in New York young, celebrated (as The New Yorker 's newest "discovery"), and observant, in one of the most compelling and creative eras of recent times. So does her protagonist in Walks with Men .

It is 1980 in New York City, and Jane, a Harvard valedictorian fresh out of college, strikes a deal with Neil, the intoxicating writer twenty years her senior. The two quickly become lovers, living together in a Chelsea brownstone. There Jane's true education begins, as Neil reveals the rules for a life well-lived: If you take food home from a restaurant, don't say it's because you want leftovers for "the dog." Say that you want the bones for "a friend who does autopsies." If you can't stand on your head (which is best), learn to do cartwheels. Have sex in airplane bathrooms. Wear only raincoats made in England.

Jane's journey from infatuation to disillusionment is both riveting and seemingly inevitable. Beattie masterfully captures a time, a place, and an unraveling. From Jay McInerney to Claire Messud, writers have been compelled by stories about the aspirations and ambitions of new arrivals to the city. Beattie was an early participant and witness.