In Nine Inches, Tom Perrotta (Little Children) captures the quiet desperation that runs rampant in suburbia. Even though there's plenty of modernity ("selfies," skinny jeans and organic pizza), Perrotta's comically tragic short stories also conjure up melancholy themes from the past. Neighbors are having affairs, teenagers are drinking too much and even teachers are less than stellar role models.
As with most satire, readers probably won't see themselves in these vignettes, but Perrotta still hits the bull's-eye in a way that's disturbingly satisfying. In "The All-Night Party," a divorced soccer mom confronts her feelings of powerlessness by taking an entitled teenager to task. In "The Test-Taker," a nerd gets revenge on a popular jock who steals the girl he loves. And in the creepy "The Back Rub," an older police officer hits on a high school delivery boy. As Perrotta's upper-middle-class white characters make a hash of things over and over, the stories ring with unsettling truth.
A few bits of diversity permeate this homogeneous suburban world in "The Smile on Happy Chang's Face," which touches on a father's disappointing reaction to his gay son and brings a Chinese family's loyalty into the mix. And Perrotta weaves discordant notes throughout the seemingly perfect settings. His work can be funny--though it's often sad--but it always seems to encapsulate the yearning, frustration and disappointment revealed when you get everything you're supposed to dream of. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend