Dana Spiotta, "Innocents and Others"

Spiotta’s accomplished novels have been notable for their dual portraits of vivid characters and the wider socio-cultural moment they inhabit. Eat the Document, a look at the 1960s from the decades after, was a National Book Award finalist, while Stone Arabia, nominated for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award, was an arresting profile of a rock musician and his sister. In her fourth novel Spiotta follows the lives of three women, two of whom are lifelong friends and filmmakers—though with very different temperaments and priorities—and the unnerving Jelly, who seduces men over the phone by saying little and listening closely.

Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics & Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics & Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at