“Just be yourself.”
Your mother’s been telling you that since the first nerve-wracking day of eighth grade. And you’ve been struggling with it ever since.
So has Sheila Heti. And she tries to get to the heart of the matter in her novel, How Should a Person Be?
Newly divorced and agonizing over a play she’s been paid to write but can’t seem to finish, a fictional version of the author embarks on an exploration of life. By tape-recording conversations with her friends, she hopes to discover something about her authentic self and gain momentum in her work.
The result is a fresh spin on friendship, art, sex, and philosophy in five acts. And the prose, often taking the form of a numbered list, is always engaging.
Just like you.
Available at amazon.com, $16.50.
Photo: Courtesy of Henry Holt and Company
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