About Mary Gaitskill
In 1988 I published my first book, a story collection titled Bad Behavior. I wrote the book in part because I was trying to understand/interpret the world and trying to find a way into it. For me “the world” was New York City which I loved or at least liked a lot more than where I’d come from, Michigan. I liked that I could be invisible in this huge place full of such various people, to be quiet and just take it in; because I was young and quiet, people would say and do all kinds of things around me that were amazing to watch and hear.
But I wanted to do more than observe, I wanted very badly to connect with this world, to be in it. I could go out and sometimes get into the club but then I didn’t know how to talk to people once I was there.