"If you're a young woman navigating life's crazy and wondrous tumult, British writer Lara Williams' new story collection A Selfie as Big as the Ritz is for you." — ELLE British author Lara Williams perfectly captures the bleak, surreal, and often hilarious period of life that every late-twenties woman will recognize in this charming audiobook. She finds herself single, twenty-nine, partially-employed, and about a half a stone overweight. Roller dexter of eligible friends rattling thin. Thirties breathing down her neck like an inappropriate uncle. She jogs. Looks good in turquoise. Finds herself punctuating gas “better out than in!” patting her stomach like a department store Santa. This is who I am, she thinks. The women in Lara Williams’ debut story collection, A Selfie as Big as the Ritz, navigate the tumultuous interval between early twenties and middle age. In the title story, a relationship implodes against the romantic backdrop of Paris. In “One of Those Life Things,” a young woman struggles to say the right thing at her best friend’s abortion. In “Penguins,” a girlfriend tries to accept her boyfriend’s bizarre sexual fantasy. In “Treats,” a single woman comes to terms with her loneliness. As Williams’ characters attempt to lean in, fall in love, hold together a family, fend off loneliness, and build a meaningful life, we see them alternating between expectation and resignation, giddiness and melancholy, the rollercoaster we all find ourselves on. “A dark wonder. An often harrowing (and in parts, very, very funny) debut, it targets the unfathomable nonsense of relationships, work and modern living with a keen eye, head-spinning wordplay and enough compassion to crush your heart. Buy it for everyone you know." —The Skinny
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“A Selfie as Big as the Ritz is accurately named—it has the sophistication and latent romanticism of Fitzgerald's best short stories. Lara Williams has a quick wit, an empathetic ear, and a devastating eye for detail—I will never look at diabetic chocolates quite the same way. This book is brilliant.
— Rebecca Harrington, author of Penelope
A dark wonder. An often harrowing (and in parts, very, very funny) debut, it targets the unfathomable nonsense of relationships, work and modern living with a keen eye, head-spinning wordplay and enough compassion to crush your heart. Buy it for everyone you know.
— The SkinnyWhat a wonderful collection. Very smart and VERY funny. A stunning mix of measured wisdom and raw emotion.
— Emma Jane Unsworth, author of AnimalsMaybe you meet someone. Maybe you fall in love. Maybe you break up. Maybe someone writes a book about your life. This is that book. Brilliant stories; awesome debut.
— Nicholas Royle, editor of Best British Short Stories 2015A glorious collection of linked stories about 20s something life in the 21st century that casts a sharp yet compassionate eye over falling in love, breaking up, friendship, and work. [A Selfie as Big as the Ritz] is Williams’ first book and I can’t wait for her to write another.
— StylistRemarkable…Evocative…The author laces the narrative with tangible, almost Instagram-able details that hint at her characters’ deepest desires…With hints of Noah Baumbach’s youthful existentialism and shades of Janice Galloway’s visceral prose, Lara Williams is one to watch.
— The ListSeriously impressive…Reminded me of something Katherine Mansfield might have written, if she lived in a world with iPhones.
— Huffington PostBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Imogen Church, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, trained as an actress at the Drama Centre London, under Christopher Fettes, Yat Malmgren, and Reuven Adiv. Since graduating, she has worked extensively in theater, film, commercials, and comedy sketch work, and she also works regularly as a voice artist. As a screenwriter, her first screenplay won the 2009 award for Best Feature Screenplay at the Reel Women Film Festival in Los Angeles.