Some books are easy to recommend. Bad Behavior isn’t one of them—and that’s exactly why it’s worth reading. Mary Gaitskill doesn’t offer comforting characters or satisfying resolutions. Instead, she writes about people who are lonely, complicated, and often painfully aware of their own contradictions. Every story feels very intimate, as if you’re witnessing moments that were never meant to be seen.
Gaitskill has a unique way of understanding people. She notices the small things: the power shifts inside a conversation, the things left unsaid, the strange ways desire and vulnerability can exist at the same time. Nothing feels exaggerated, yet the emotional weight is impossible to ignore. Decades after it was published, Bad Behavior still feels startlingly honest.
Read it if you like fiction that isn’t interested in giving answers, only asking better questions.