Mary Gaitskill

American novelist and essayist — author of Bad Behavior, Two Girls Fat and Thin, and Veronica — who writes fiction about sexuality, power, and moral complexity with unflinching precision — among the most critically respected American literary fiction writers.

Creates the morally complex female protagonist in contemporary fiction — Gaitskill's fiction explores sexuality, power imbalance, and female interiority with a precision and lack of sentimentality that distinguishes her from peers; Bad Behavior's stories are the most sophisticated fictional treatment of sado-masochism and power dynamics in American literature.