Problems

By: Jade Sharma

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Maya's been able to get by in New York on her wits and a dead-end bookstore job for years, but when her husband leaves her and her favorite professor ends their affair, her barely-calibrated life descends into chaos, and she has to make some choices.

Maya's struggle to be alone, to be a woman, and to be thoughtful and imperfect and alive in a world that doesn't really care what happens to her is rendered with dead-eyed clarity and unnerving charm. This book takes every tired trope about addiction and recovery, "likeable" characters, and redemption narratives and blows them to pieces.

©2016 Jade Sharma (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Okay but gross

Would recommend to those that enjoy books like My Year of Rest & Relaxtion or Milk Fed. It’s super raunchy and full of dread/nihilism so if you’re into that kind of stuff go for it

An unvarnished journey through addiction

Sharma strips away any sense of glamour or coolness one might have about hard drug use. She also avoids the crutch of trying to make the main character likable. I can’t say I “enjoyed” the journey - it was painful to watch the main character continue to march along her path of self destruction. I will say that I felt like I was given an unvarnished glimpse into the kind of damage addiction can cause.