“We Play Ourselves” by Jen Silverman

Audrey recommends: We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman

Genre: Contemporary fiction

Reading level: Adult

Summary: Cass, an up-and-coming playwright, moves across the country to reinvent herself after her latest flop leads to a social media implosion.

Audrey says: This book is all about the complicated relationships between artists: infatuation, jealousy, pity, worship, betrayal. Cass idolizes an older director, demonizes her younger-but-more-successful colleague, obsesses over her filmmaker neighbor, dismisses the teens acting in the film. By the end of the story, all these relationships have flipped around, and Cass’s truest friend might be her agent’s secretary, who she only knows in the form of brief phone conversations. This novel untangles the conflated webs of fame, love, success, and happiness. I find it a must-read for creative types.