Thomas, an investigative journalist, puts two divorces under the memoirist's microscope her parents' and her own and thinks about how the former led to the latter. Thomas' deeply felt prose and pitilessly intelligent self-analysis raise her story to something on the order of a generational anthem (which, as Gen X enters middle age, it sorely needs). If you've been through the pain of a divorce or watched one at close range, you may recognize emotions here that you've never seen written down anywhere else. 7/12
As the mercury rises, here's our guide to what to watch, read, see and hear