My First Book

Listeners will want to buckle up for Levy’s vibrant debut, a dizzying array of angsty and entertaining stories exploring coming-of-age for those who’ve grown up in an era where the Internet has always existed. While some of the stories have previously appeared in print (e.g., the buzzy “Good Boys,” first published in The New Yorker in 2021), others are new. With characters that are surreal and edgy but very much human and hopeful, Levy bounces through a kaleidoscope of topics—privilege, misogyny, GenZ slang, societal expectations, beauty, politics, wealth, and more. Some of the stories are semiautobiographical. Levy, aware of privilege and occasionally stymied by it, often returns to apocalyptic settings to express her angst, employing evocative, snappy dialogue to provide deep insight into a world of instant information and ennui. Levy narrates the audiobook with a singular voice that borders on vocal fry but never quite reaches it. The audio is delivered as the semi-intoxicated confessions of a dear friend sobering up but still feeling that everything is both right and wrong with the world simultaneously.