Binary Star

The long-distance relationship between an anorexic and an alcoholic resembles that of a binary star system—both orbit each other and their common center of gravity tightly, lonely and lost in a sense of sweeping darkness. When the couple decides to take a road trip across the United States, they hide behind their relative illnesses, burning and growing fainter. Surviving on wasted time in strip clubs, celebrity magazines, and pills, they self-destruct with an intensity that mirrors that of a celestial death.

Through halting sentences and a dizzying pace, each page is more intoxicating than the next. The lyrical prose displayed here will haunt me for light years with its unnerving, detached exploration of deterioration. The author plays with repetition and the vicious cycle the connection between two unhealthy people can create. She utilizes a simple, straightforward plot, which only magnifies the force of these spiraling characters and the culture that starves us. Interweaving complex space jargon with the idea of obsession and radical activism, this book will leave you devastated in the most dazzling way—an incandescent burst of genius.