“Read In the Drink because it’s about a girl who knows exactly how it feels to be us. Cathi Hanauer, author of My Sister’s Bones “Hilarious, decadent, painfully honest, and sparkling with wit and originality…With this exuberant first novel, Kate Christensen burst onto the literary scene.” “At a time when authors are penning bestselling memoirs about their alcoholic torment, and 12-step programs are as popular as SUVs, Christensen’s take is refreshing.” “Like its protagonist, Christensen’s book is funny and intelligent, filled with dead-on New York character types and locales.” “Christensen’s narrative voice is sharp, urban, and laugh-out-loud funny.” “Claudia Steiner has to be the freshest anti-heroine I’ve read in a long time.” “An artful chronicle of a frustrated writer who finds herself light-years from where she expected she’d be.” In the Drink: A Novel Paperback Augby Kate Christensen (Author) 55 ratings See all formats and editions Kindle 7.99 Read with Our Free App Hardcover 7.50 11 Used from 2.00 3 New from 7.50 5 Collectible from 18.99 Paperback 11.97 31 Used from 1.56 4 New from 9. “Like Bridget, Christensen’s Claudia Steiner is a mess…but Claudia is endearing because she remains appreciative of her own grittiness.” “Christensen’s acid wit burns up the pages.” All Claudia can rely on–aside from her wry sense of humor and her faith in the medicinal properties of whiskey–is a persistent little flame of belief in herself, which gives her the glimmer of a chance for a happy ending.

She’s hopelessly in love with her best friend, a corporate lawyer who may or may not be gay, and she’s still relentlessly pursued by her ex-lover, a married unpublished epic poet. Her job pays enough to keep her in overpriced cocktails, cabs, and take-out but doesn’t cover the rent on her roach-infested apartment or keep her creditors at bay. At the age of twenty-nine she finds herself serving as secretary to an insane, aging socialite who barks orders from her toilet, specializes in devastating backhanded remarks, and expects Claudia to ghostwrite her best-selling novels. Claudia Steiner never intended for her life to become such a disaster.

In the drink kate christensen