A Field Guide to Awkward Silences

Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri turns her satirical eye on her own life in this hilarious new memoir. Most twentysomethings spend a lot of time avoiding awkwardness. Not Alexandra Petri. Afraid of rejection? Alexandra Petri has auditioned for>America's Next Top Model. Afraid of looking like an idiot? Alexandra Petri lost>Jeopardy> by answering Who is that dude? on national TV. Afraid of bad jokes? Alexandra Petri won an international pun championship. Petri has been a debutante, reenacted the Civil War, and fended off suitors at a>Star Wars convention while wearing a Jabba the Hutt suit. One time, she let some cult members she met on the street baptize her, just to be polite. She's a connoisseur of the kind of awkwardness that most people spend whole lifetimes trying to avoid. If John Hodgman and Amy Sedaris had a baby.they would never let Petri babysit it. But Petri is here to tell you: Everything you fear is not so bad. Trust her. She's tried it. And in the course of her misadventures, she's learned that there are worse things out there than awkwardness--and that interesting things start to happen when you stop caring what people think.…