Once upon a time, Random House held a contest. The challenge: write an essay about the twenties. The reward: $20,000. I submitted an essay called “The Idiot’s Guide to Your Palm” which is about flying to Michigan to give a career talk and ending up at the door of a palm reader, soliciting direction.

My essay did not win $20,000. However, I did get to be part of this anthology, and to meet its dynamo essayists at our reading at KGB Bar in New York. All 20-something of us showed up, to read for 20-some seconds and then drink beer. The only person missing was the guy who won the $20,000. He couldn’t make it. Financial limitations, perhaps.

the idea

the contest.

the contributors.

“If we are still looking for a voice for this generation, I’d nominate this eclectic choir instead.”

    Orlando Sentinel

“A slice of Gen Y life: everything from OCD, rape, and depression to a nude-art-class model, online communities, and how to find (and keep) a drummer. Pick up your copy.”

    Stuff@night (Boston)

“Delightful . . . the essayists blend morbid irony and idealism. . . . This highly readable collection of voices is more assured and memorable than one might have expected from such a venture.”

                Publishers Weekly

“Being in your twenties is weird. The world tells you you’re a grown-up, but damn if you feel like one. With 29 sharply observant and well-written snapshots of life between the ages of 19 and 30, Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers couldn’t have captured this more perfectly.”

                                       Nylon

“About those $20,000...”

           Me

To read all of “The Idiot’s Guide To Your Palm,” click here.

“The essays have an urgency, an immediacy, even as the subject matter runs the gamut from sex to death.

-Los Angeles Times Book Review