How Should a Person Be?: A Novel from Life

By Sheila Heti

Book Overview

A raw, startling, genre-defying novel of friendship, sex, and love in the new millennium--a compulsive read that's like "spending a day with your new best friend" ( Bookforum ) Reeling from a failed marriage, Sheila, a twentysomething playwright, finds herself unsure of how to live and create. When Margaux, a talented painter and free spirit, and Israel, a sexy and depraved artist, enter her life, Sheila hopes that through close--sometimes too close--observation of her new friend, her new lover, and herself, she might regain her footing in art and life. Using transcribed conversations, real emails, plus heavy doses of fiction, the brilliant and always innovative Sheila Heti crafts a work that is part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part bawdy confessional. It's a totally shameless and dynamic exploration into the way we live now, which breathes fresh wisdom into the eternal questions: What is the sincerest way to love? What kind of person should you be?

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805094725
• ISBN13: 9780805094725
• Release Date: June 2012
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Motherhood by Sheila Heti was better in my opinion

This book started off quite interesting and I was enjoying it. However, it got to a point where it mostly made little sense to me and the characters were all pretty insufferable. The writing was way too inconsistent for my liking, some parts were written well and they were engaging, others were just pointless. I wouldn’t recommend this book, but someone else might enjoy this writing style. It was pretty quick to get through.