<p>"Story after story gave me the uneasy feeling that I'd been outed, my secret anxiety and exhaustion laid bare. The emotional computations of the characters are constant, a steady drone that directs them to accommodate everyone, as much as possible, all the time."</p> <p>- Allison Moore, from the Introduction</p> <p><br></p> <p>Boys Buy Me Drinks to Watch Me Fall Down is the quietly opened vein that every literate woman is hiding with a strategically positioned clutch or behind sleeves not quite right for the weather. These are not your everyday stories of resilience - while the heart may be laid bare, the women here don't have time to hit the fainting couch with their trauma.</p> <p><br></p> <p>No. The women here are too sharp for that. And too busy. They're busy carrying worlds on their shoulders; they're busy with sex (and equally busy when the sex is great and when it's not); they're busy being messy and complicated and generally busy with the business of existence, with making sure you don't see that vein.</p> <p><br></p> <p>As for author Anna Dickson James? She's busy exploring the many delicate and thoroughly original ways to let you see it anyway.</p>