What Rhymes with Bastard?

In this darkly comedic debut memoir, Scottish ex-pat Robertson details a bad year in San Francisco, living with a no-good boyfriend and her own uncertain identity. Wryly observing that ""even a boyfriend in a lunatic asylum seemed better than none,"" twenty-something Linda sends young, psychologically delicate Jack, ""a good fixer-upper,"" ahead to SF to secure a job, a place to live, and a ""perfect backdrop to our decaying love."" The painful details of their relationship follow, as Jack becomes the alcoholic, drug abusing, philandering bastard of the title, and Robertson copes through friends, music and gallows humor. Though there's little on the ex-pat experience (or the whys of her and her friends' knack for poor choices), Robertson shares some welcome insights (""when your lover doesn't love you anymore, friends remind you that they do"") and gamely pokes fun at their grim, collective situation. The most serious material follows the death of Robertson's mother, after which Robertson makes a bid for adulthood by entering the Ms. Accordion San Francisco 2004 pageant. Though sure to delight open-minded fans of chick lit (Robertson isn't bashful), it's a narrative unlikely to catch on with any broader an audience.