Look At Me

Set in contemporary Washington, D.C., mixing urban edge with magic realism, this lyrical and sexy first novel is also the frank story of the clash between promiscuity and love, and the acceptance of a family legacy.Look at Me tells the story Dana, whose mother was loving and charismatic, with some of the powers of a witch, and whose father was a super rational scientist. When her mother dies tragically, and far too young, Dana, as early as twelve-years-old, learns to use sex to grab attention and relieve her loneliness, while leaving it intact afterward.As an adult, Dana is caught between the different pulls of her parents. A successful scientist like her father, she still seeks the irrational, nurturing atmosphere her mother created. As Dana puts it, a man of science wedded to a sorceress"-what kind of daughter indeed can issue from such a mixed heritage?Dana’s odyssey is that of a sexual aggressor, of a young woman compelled to prove her ability to attract, again and again. But after all the faceless men who service her for a night and whom she expels with a well worked-out routine in the morning, she meets two whom she cannot dismiss: Jonas, the married astronomer from San Francisco who is a bit of a conjurer himself; and Iain, a photographer with a cocaine problem and a dangerous lifestyle, but a man of great compassion and tenderness."Look at Me is the story of a totally contemporary young woman, at home with the slut’ side of her nature while at war with her own desire for love."-from the Foreword by Marge PiercyLauren Porosoff Mitchell received her law degree from George Washington University. She lives in Washington, D.C., where she is at work on her second novel.

From the Back Cover

Mixing urban edge with magic realism, this lyrical first novel is the frank story of a young woman trying to come to terms with her sexual promiscuity and fear of falling in love. Look at Me tells the story of Dana, whose mother was loving and charismatic, with some of the powers of a witch, but who dies tragically young. In response, Dana, barely in her teens, learns to use sex to grab attention and relieve her loneliness. As an adult, a geneticist working in a large hospital in Washington, D.C., she feels caught between the different pulls of her parents. A scientist like her father, she still seeks the irrational, nurturing atmosphere her mother created. As Dana puts it, "a man of science wedded to a sorceress" - what kind of daughter indeed can issue from such a mixed heritage? Dana's odyssey is that of a sexual aggressor, comfortable with the 'slut' side of her nature, but frightened by any love that she cannot control. She has a compulsion to prove her ability to attract, again and again, but finally has to grapple with the dangerous urges she finds in herself and acts out. Look at Me is a striking debut, a spare, beautifully written novel by a twenty-four year-old talent with a highly intelligent take on compulsive sex and the fear of losing oneself to love.

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