The Harm in Asking: My Clumsy Encounters with the Human Race

Comedian Barron (People Are Unappealing) plies her trade in this collection of personal essays, arranged in a loose chronology of her life. In the first essay, "Scrub Toilet Super-Super," Barron recounts the idiosyncratic routine she developed at age ten of locking herself in the bathroom, having a snack on the toilet while talking to her imaginary friends. Another essay describes a summer abroad in France, where Barron pursues a belief that "lesbians were but magical confections that brought joy to all the land" by masturbating to Tilda Swinton. Next comes her New York years, where seemingly every bizarre roommate/unfortunate sex scenario that could possibly happen to a young, plucky, and penniless woman alone in the big city, occurs. The spectrum of life experiences on display is impressive, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments though out the collection. Fans of the Chelsea Handler/Tina Fey awkward-and-unashamed sense of humor will find a kindred spirit. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Weed Literary. (Mar.)