Ripe: A Novel

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A Time MustRead Book of 2023 * A New York Times Book Review Editors Choice * A Roxane Gay Audacious Book Club Selection * A Marie Claire Book Club PickA surreal novel with a dark, delicious edge (Time) about a woman in Silicon Valley who must decide how much shes willing to give up for successfrom an awardwinning writer whose work Roxane Gay calls utterly unique and remarkable.A year into her dream job at a cutthroat Silicon Valley startup, Cassie finds herself trapped in a corporate nightmare. Between the long hours, toxic bosses, and unethical projects, she also struggles to reconcile the glittering promise of a city where obscene wealth lives alongside abject poverty and suffering. Ivy League grads complain about the snack selection from a conference room with a view of unhoused people bathing in the bay. Startup burnouts leap into the paths of commuter trains, and men literally set themselves on fire in the streets.Though isolated, Cassie is never alone. From her earliest memory, a miniature black hole has been her constant companion. It feeds on her depression and anxiety, growing or shrinking in relation to her distress. The black hole watches, but it also waits. Its relentless pull draws Cassie ever closer as the world around her unravels.When she ends up unexpectedly pregnant at the same time her CEOs demands cross into illegal territory, Cassie must decide whether the tempting fruits of Silicon Valley are really worth it. Sharp but vulnerable, unsettling yet darkly comic, Ripeportrays one millennial womans journey through our latecapitalist hellscape and offers a brilliantly incisive look at the absurdities of modern life.