Girl Walks into a Bar

A sophisticated coming-of-age memoir tracing a modern Holly Golightly from girl- to womanhood and from fantasy to reality. From the glittering skyscrapers of Manhattan's media elite to the slacker haven of a fashionably low-rent L.A. bar, Strawberry Saroyan traces her journey not only from girl- to womanhood, but from fantasy to reality. A powerful and profoundly post-modern coming of age story, with a voice reminiscent of Liz Phair one moment and Mary McCarthy the next, 'Girl Walks into a Bar' explores Saroyan's struggle not only with who she is and who she wants to be, but also who she is in the context of what she's supposed to embody: the iconic media-promulgated 'girl', a 21st-century version of Audrey Hepburn standing outside Tiffany's looking at diamonds. 'Girl Walks into a Bar' takes a handful of the most striking and formative episodes of Saroyan's life and brings them to the page as a filmmaker might, zeroing in on the crucial 'scenes': losing her virginity, starting her own riot girly magazine, falling in dysfunctional love. Yet all the while, she's trailed by that other black-clad girl, the Platonic ideal of so many modern young women's fantasies. Will they ever meet? That question lies at the heart of Saroyan's genre-bending memoir. 'Girl Walks into a Bar' promises to be one of the most memorable debuts of the year. Strawberry Saroyan was born in 1970 and grew up in California. After graduating from Barnard, she was an editor at Conde Nast Traveler. Her writing has appeared in Salon, Elle and Vogue. She lives in Los Angeles.