Poser

"[A] fine first memoir, and it's heartening to see a serious female writer take such a risky step into territory where writers of literary ambition fear to tread, lest they be dismissed as trivial . . . [What] makes "Poser" work on a lot of levels is that first in line to ask searching questions and poke fun is the author herself . . . "Poser" is a powerful, honest, ruefully funny memoir about one woman's openhearted reckoning with her demons . . . In the hands of a gifted writer, the universal is embedded within the personal. Guess what? Your bad wallpaper made for a lovely book." --Dani Shapiro, "The New York Times Book Review
""Let me be honest about something: I love yoga, I live for yoga, and yoga has changed my life forever--but it is very difficult to find books about yoga that aren't incredibly annoying. I'm sorry to say it, but yoga sometimes makes people talk like jerks. Thank goodness, then, for Claire Dederer, who has written the book we all need: the long-awaited funny, smart, clear-headed, thoughtful, truthful, and inspiring yoga memoir. To simplify my praise: I absolutely loved this book." --Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love
""Why did Claire Dederer take up yoga? Short answer: for the same kinds of reasons that Elizabeth Gilbert changed her life in "Eat, Pray, Love," and to much the same funny, charming, self-deprecating, stealthily inspirational and (quite possibly) best-selling effect . . . This appealing writer's first book is long overdue. It's clear from the start that she will be transformed and find a sensible, spiritual nonsappy way to become a devotee before "Poser" is over."" --"Janet Maslin, " The New York Times
""This memoir about [Dederer's] decade doing downward dog while raising two kids and trying to keep her marriage alive reads like "Eat, Pray, Love" for hip but harried moms . . . Funny, well-observed and ultimately inspiring." --"People" (four stars)
"This book is going to be big. Claire De