How to Become a Scandal

A New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceWe all relish a good scandal. Why do people feel compelled to act out their tangled psychodramas on the national stage, and why do we so enjoy watching them? The motifs are classic-revenge, betrayal, ambition, madness-though the pitfalls are ones we all negotiate daily. After all, every one of us is a potential scandal in the making: failed self-knowledge and colossal self-deception-the necessary ingredients-are our collective plight. How to Become a Scandal is "an extremely smart, funny, acid, and beautifully written meditation on a scary truth that we all try desperately to ignore" (David Shields, author of Reality Hunger: A Manifesto).