Problems

Girls meets Trainspotting: Problems is a bold and witty novel about a part-time heroin user and her increasingly full-time problems.

Early praise for Problems: 

“Jade Sharma is the appalling, hilarious love child of Denis Johnson and Maggie Estep, and Problems is as unrepentant and transgressive a novel as they come. Every coming of age story except this one is a lie.” —Elisa Albert, author of After Birth, The Book of Dahlia, and Why This Night Is Different

 “Searing. Brutal. Sublime. Hysterical. Terrifying. Exacting. Essential. Indelible. Unforgettable.”—Dale Peck, author of Hatchet Jobs and Visions and Revisions

“The self-degrading, self-knowing narrator of Jade Sharma’s Problems dares to recount her beyond messy life in clean, lucid—and often funny—prose. She’d never be so glib as to call herself a survivor, but even at this dark novel’s darkest moments her voice itself makes the case for her resilience and her humanity.”—David Gates, author of Jernigan and A Hand Reached Down to Guide Me

Dark, raw, and very funny, Problems introduces us to Maya, a young woman with a smart mouth, time to kill, and a heroin hobby that isn’t much fun anymore. Maya’s been able to get by in New York on her wits and a dead-end bookstore job for years, but when her husband leaves her and her favorite professor ends their affair, her barely-calibrated life descends into chaos. Her struggle to be alone, to be a woman, and to be thoughtful and imperfect and alive in a world that doesn’t really care what happens to her is rendered with dead-eyed clarity and unnerving charm. This book takes every tired trope about addiction and recovery, “likeable” characters and redemption narratives, and blows them to pieces.

Problems is also available in print, and your print purchase supports Emily Books, too! Buy it at your local independent bookseller!