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In twenty-four absurd, lyrical, and louche episodes, "Iris Smyles" weaves a modern odyssey of trying to find one´s home in the world amid the pitfalls and insidious traps of adult life. A wickedly funny picaresque touching on quantum physics, the Donner Party, arctic exploration, Greek mythology, Rocky I, II, V, IV, VI, and III respectively, and literary immortality, Dating Tips for the Unemployed is a wistful if wry ode to that awkward age-between birth and death-when you think you know what you want but aren´t quite sure what you´re doing.

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"The prodigiously inventive Smyles melds novel, autobiography, and all manner of asides as she flails at art, love, and friendship with the wry intelligence of someone just wise enough to realize they have no idea what they´re doing. A flat-out joy to read." -O Magazine "Structured in small episodes like Homer´s Odyssey, which serves as an epigraph for the book, Smyles´ adventuress calls to mind a Jane Bowles heroine who´s read Ulysses while scrolling in despair through 10 open apps on her iPhone. Smyles´ portrayal of Iris in all her weirdness offers much to recognize, fear, and embrace. Walking the line between self-obsession and thoughtful portraiture, Smyles explores an inextricable link between sex and loneliness, self-loathing and self-acceptance in contemporary New York."- Kirkus Reviews "Iris Smyles has reinvented Sally Bowles and Holly Golightly for the 21st century." -Edmund White, author of City Boy and Marcel Proust: A Life "There are two kinds of people in this world, those without peanut allergies and those who cannot tolerate peanuts or any food produced or packaged in a facility that processes peanuts. Both will love this book." -Andrea Martin "Similar to Tolstoy´s War and Peace , but much funnier and shorter." -Martin Mull "An incandescent weave of fiction, essay, and spoof.... Iris Smyles is an original and her fictional doppelgänger "Iris Smyles" is one of literature´s most charismatic innocents, a Donna Quixote lost in the new world." -Frederic Tuten, author of Tin Tin in the New World "My favorite writer." -Tom McCarthy , author of Satin Island and C "I love this book. But I wish there were more dogs in it." -Patricia Marx, author of Let´s Be Less Stupid "An astounding work of genre-bending fun by an obvious genius." ?-Steve Hely, author of How I Became a Famous Novelist "Normally when I read a book, it´s a lot of squinting, mumbling, and moving of lips before I´m asked to leave the bus station altogether. But Iris Smyles somehow manages to transport me to another world entirely, where thankfully none of that matters and I can just get lost in her hilarious, absurd, and dare I say (yes, I do!) elegant prose. More please!" -Dave Hill, author of Tasteful Nudes and Dave Hill Doesn´t Live Here Anymore "I didn´t read this book and I didn´t have to. On the cover, it said IRIS SMYLES and that´s more than enough for me. Like logos for Coca-Cola, Fritos and Entenmann´s, Iris´ name assures me that what´s inside... is so yummy." -Alec Baldwin Alec Baldwin was paid for this endorsement.

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