Sloane Crosley

The acclaimed essayist returns with her third collection, Look Alive Out There—and reveals the flawed heroines, forbidden novels, and Britpop bands that shaped her.

- Leah Greenblatt

THE FIRST BOOK I BOUGHT WITH MY OWN MONEY

Far From the Madding Crowd

[1 ] by Thomas Hardy. I recognize how ludicrous that answer is, but I assure you it was not an indicator of the genius to come. I was 10 years old, at a book fair, and I liked the title and the cover. So I parted with $3 and spent the next three weeks highlighting all the words I didn’t know. I still have that copy. There’s more yellow than white inside.

THE BOOK I HID FROM MY PARENTS AS A KID

I wasn’t allowed to watch Married...With Children, soI went to my room and read my secret copy of Misery instead. I also had a copy of Valley of the Dolls [2]. My parents really played that one poorly.

THE CLASSIC NOVEL I MIGHT NOT HAVE ACTUALLY READ