Iris Vegan, a graduate student from the Midwest, finds herself in a web of bizarre circumstances and urban characters when she attends Columbia University. Iris initially accepts a role in the unbalanced lives of others hoping to find some semblance of her own personal identity. She soon discovers, however, the high cost of living blindly outside one's own reality. Hustvedt's powerful metaphors and haunting descriptions combine to make this a striking first novel that deserves public attention. In fact, two chapters were selected for inclusion in Best American Short Stories, 1990 and 1991 . If you neglect this novel because its plot sounds familiar, you will miss some of the most heartfelt and profound writing today.