A Field Guide to Awkward Silences

Book excerpt: Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri shares her stories of awkwardness in this insightful and supremely funny debut. Most twentysomethings avoid awkwardness. Not Alexandra Petri. She auditioned for America’s Next Top Model. She lost Jeopardy! by answering “Who is that dude?” One time, she let some cult members baptize her, just to be polite. Alexandra Petri is a connoisseur of the kind of awkwardness most people spend lifetimes avoiding. If John Hodgman and Amy Sedaris had a baby. . .they would never let Petri babysit it. Here, the Washington Post columnist turns her satirical eye on her own life—with hilarious results. And she’s here to tell you that interesting things start to happen when you stop caring what people think.