Ripe

Powell's Picks of the Month

Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.

This book is such a wonderful heartache. I felt that hovering, winking black hole as I read — felt it grow like a pit in my stomach, even though I wasn't the one being buffeted around by the whims of Silicon Valley and selfish men, corporate greed and bodily needs. Sarah Rose Etter has written an astounding, sharp, deeply intimate book. I've already started recommending it to everyone I know. Recommended By Kelsey F., Powells.com

From an award-winning writer whose work Roxane Gay calls "utterly unique and remarkable" comes a surreal novel about a woman in Silicon Valley who must decide how much she's willing to give up for success — perfect for fans of My Year of Rest and Relaxation and The Need.

A year into her dream job at a cutthroat Silicon Valley startup, Cassie finds herself trapped in a corporate nightmare. Between the long hours, toxic bosses, and unethical projects, she also struggles to reconcile the glittering promise of a city where obscene wealth lives alongside abject poverty. Ivy League grads complain about the snack selection from a conference room with a view of houseless people bathing in the bay. Startup burnouts leap into the paths of commuter trains and men literally set themselves on fire in the streets.

Though isolated, Cassie is never alone. From her earliest memory, a miniature black hole has been her constant companion. It feeds on her depression and anxiety, its size changing in relation to her distress. The black hole watches, but it also waits. Its relentless pull draws Cassie ever-closer as the world around her unravels.

When her CEO's demands cross an illegal threshold and she ends up unexpectedly pregnant, Cassie must decide whether the tempting fruits of Silicon Valley are really worth it. Sharp but vulnerable, funny yet unsettling, Ripe portrays one millennial woman's journey through our late-capitalist hellscape and offers a brilliantly incisive look at the absurdities of modern life.

"Sarah Rose Etter is electric on everything from tech culture's toxic absurdities to bone-deep loneliness to the science of black holes. Ripe is a harrowing and mordantly hilarious send-up of the horrors of late-stage capitalism, and a potent meditation on the search for meaning in a broken world." — Laura van den Berg, author of The Third Hotel

"Ripe is a triumph — blade-sharp and unflinching. It walks a darkly gorgeous tightrope between the bitter and beautiful with skill that takes your breath away." — Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure and Blue Ticket

"HOLY SHIT, this book wrecked me!" — Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Wow, No Thank You

Sarah Rose Etter is the author of the chapbook Tongue Party and The Book of X, winner of a Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel. Her work has appeared in Time, Guernica, BOMB, The Bennington Review, The Cut, VICE, and elsewhere. She has been awarded residences at the Jack Kerouac House, the Disquiet International program in Portugal, and the Gullkistan Writing Residency in Iceland. She earned her BA in English from Pennsylvania State University and her MFA in fiction from Rosemont College. She lives in Los Angeles. For more info, visit SarahRoseEtter.com.