A collection of short stories that are "at once laugh-out-loud funny and utterly serious" (Claire Messud, author of 
                        The Burning Girl).
                    
    
   
                    
    "McGraw ably leavens heartbreak with humor... she renders quirky, refreshingly real characters-a mediocre ballet dancer who takes in a more successful dancer's daughter; an insecure self-help author who's thrown for a loop by a visit to her parents; a disillusioned bed-and-breakfast owner who flirts with moving to Aruba; Catholic priests who have trouble living up to their vows-on the verge of improving their lot in life. The happiness they catch glimpses of, though, frequently eludes their grasp... McGraw's pitch-perfect dialogue and artful closeups on the telling, trying details of ordinary lives deliver stories that are easy to read but hard to forget." -
                    Publishers Weekly
                    
    
   
                    
    "I love these stories about nice normal people trying-and failing-to cling to their fondest delusions." -Molly Giles, author of 
                    All the Wrong Places