The Necessaries

What do you do when the thing you most need isn't what you thought? The narrators of these thirteen wildly original and unforgettable stories all know what they want, and are surprised to find--in poignant and sometimes painful ways--that what they need is something else entirely. Whether they are starting a romance or ending one, raising babies or rescuing a friend, writing an advice column and running a country, their worlds fall apart and then get rebuilt, in startling and tender ways, on the new discoveries rising from the rubble. Bold, sneaky, sometimes bewildered, and always jumping in feet first, these characters will steal your heart, turn it upside down, shake out all its contents, and give you back what you most need, polished, clear, and whole.