How Did You Get This Number: Essays

In her second collection, Sloane Crosley recounts a series of misadventures that bridge the gap between her life in New York City and various international locales. The essays follow her as she navigates a Parisian cemetery, loses herself in the rugged terrain of provincial Portugal, and faces a medical emergency in an Alaskan tent. She details the friction of bridesmaid duties, the chaos of a chaotic neighbor's domestic disputes, and the specific embarrassment of failing to communicate across cultural barriers. Through these anecdotes, she examines the awkward mechanics of modern adulthood and the way urban habits clash with the unpredictable realities of travel.

This book serves readers who value sharp observational humor and the specific brand of self-deprecation found in contemporary personal narratives. It appeals to those interested in the contradictions of the millennial experience and the absurdity of social etiquette. Readers finish these essays with a clearer understanding of how personal identity is shaped by small, public failures. They gain a collection of witty perspectives on maintaining friendships and surviving the inconveniences of independent life, all delivered through a lens of dry irony rather than sentimentality.