One last thing: every night in Mexico City that I couldn't sleep and during long stretches of plane time, I re-read Mary Gaitskill's Beacase They Wanted To. I didn't like Veronica as much as I'd thought I would, so I went back and read Bad Behavior and Because to remind myself how devestating these books are. Excerpt from the book's first story here and an interview with Gaitskill here. I'll post quotes as soon as I get the book back from the airport, where I think I may have left it...