Welcome to Litsy!

Esther gets a call from a guy named Constantine, but soon realizes the mother of her situationship is behind it. In her memory, we meet the man himself- Buddy Fucking Willard, who grandly condescends to visit her at college, who gives her a "dry, uninspiring" kiss, and who, worst of all, is smugly dismissive of her poetry. But in between Constantine and Buddy, Esther reads a beautiful short story and wants to go live inside of it- 100% relatable!

There is so much to sink our teeth into in chapter 2, namely Esther's growing sense of loneliness and alienation. The feeling she describes sitting on her own watching Doreen and Lenny flirt and make out is so recognizable, and her later isolation at the hotel when the city "hung in the window, flat as a poster" is so vivid I can feel it in my bones. But it's her rumination on the power of a scorching hot bath that has lived with me for years now.