Nancy Bachrach

Nancy Bachrach worked in advertising in New York and Paris, spinning hot air like cotton candy, and the highlight of her career was selling the first American deodorant to the French. Before that, she was a teaching assistant in the philosophy department at Brandeis University, where she was one chapter ahead of her class.

"The Center of the Universe" is a mordantly funny memoir guaranteed to make you feel better if you think your family is crazy. Bachrach lives in New York City, and this is her first book.