You're so beautiful

the long version

Eileen FitzGerald writes about family life, relationships, and women's experiences with a fresh, unusual blend of wry humor and poignancy. The ten stories in this remarkable debut collection focus on ordinary people navigating their way through life in the Midwest, coming to terms with themselves and their desires in the process. An elderly woman craves appreciation from the daughter she criticizes constantly; a library clerk contemplates losing her virginity at thirty-three; a young woman working in a mall reflects on her past weaknesses in the face of new temptation; prompted by a mistake at the grocery store, an engaged couple confront the end of their relationship; and in the title story, a high-school cheerleader faces the wrong kind of male attention.