A Field Guide to Awkward Silences

May 18, 2015
Washington Post columnist Petri plumbs the depth of her own awkwardness in this hilarious collection of essays reliving incidents like attending the Fortieth Annual International Whistling Convention, competing in the O. Henry Pun-Off, and speed dating at a Star Wars convention. Petri confesses to a teen infatuation with Robert E. Lee, complete with fan fiction, and the rare ability to "summon elderly men from great distances." There are Oscar Wildean bon mots, like the perfectly absurd statement that "Every friend group has a Karen, and if you don't know instantly who it is, it's you." Petri's humor is complemented by her capacity for articulating insights. An appearance on Jeopardy sparks a lament on the decline of trivia in the digital age, and a debutante ball dispels a wistful nostalgia for the past with the sad realization that "No one notices living in a golden age." Funny, smart, and indeed supremely awkward, Petri's literary debut is everything her fans might expect and more. Agent: Anna Sproul-Latimer, Ross Yoon Agency.

June 1, 2015
Washington Post columnist Petri nails the travails of being a young adult by saying it feels like you're a group of cats in a coat pretending to be a person. She brings her distinctive voicehonest, relatable, and laugh-out-loud funnyto this collection of essays that read like missives from your best friend. Petri discloses her less-than-successful Star Wars speed-dating experience, an unfortunate middle-school crush on Robert E. Lee, and the vast gulf between what people assume it was like to be a congressman's daughter and the reality of it (her father is former Wisconsin Republican Tom Petri). She's an inveterate trier who has competed in the International Whistling Convention, on Jeopardy!, and in the O. Henry Pun-Off. Her own stories have more punch than the humorous lists sprinkled throughout, and she's able to tackle serious issues like feminism with a fine balance of humor and sharp-eyed commentary. This is not only a memoir but also a rousing call to young adults to shake themselves out of their ironic torpor and actually try to do somethingno easy trick, of course, if you happen to be a heap of cats in a coat.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)