A young lawyer is brought down by bad luck and general malaise in this relentless first novel, a tale of wayward youth in the vein of Bright Lights, Big City. The unnamed narrator, part of a foursome of friends from various backgrounds who have just graduated from the same law school, steps grudgingly from the ivory tower into the real world—and plunges. It doesn't help that he is ambivalent about the profession he's worked so hard to join, or that he has no grasp of office politics, or that his only recreational activity is getting drunk, "real drunk, the kind of drunk where I don't give a fuck about anything, that kind of drunk where I feel like I'm continually entering new rooms and closing doors behind me, doors that lock as soon as they close so there's no going back no matter what." His chosen profession affords him the money to indulge this habit, which in turn feeds his growing negativity about the profession as well as his growing sense of isolation from his friends. His confused apathy costs him hugely when he seems to ridicule a clumsy pass made at a female co-worker by one of the rising stars at the firm, who then exacts a bitter, bureaucratic and utterly effective vengeance. Readers will guess at the course of events before the end of the first chapter, but Hogan has a gift for capturing the vulnerability of youth ("we're just kids, and they can pretty much do what they want with us") and the terrifying swiftness with which things can go utterly wrong. (Oct. 7)
