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Sloane Crosley broke onto the literary scene by telling the truth — the painful, honest and often hilarious truths of her life in New York City in her 20s. 

Her essay collections, "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" and "How Did You Get This Number," both cracked the New York Times bestseller list.

Her debut novel, "The Clasp," centers on a group of college friends who are reunited at a classmate's wedding. As their 20s draw to a close, they take stock of their careers, their relationships and their friendship with each other — before a "'Goonies' style" adventure takes them to France, Crosley said.

The book is a modern twist on the classic short story "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant. You may have read it in school: A woman desperate to look the part when she wheedles an invitation to a fancy party borrows a rich friend's necklace. When the necklace goes missing after the party, the woman panics. She purchases a replacement, but is forced to spend years paying off the debt. In the end, she tells her friend the truth, but her friend has her own secret: The necklace was a fake. The woman toiled for years for no reason.

"In a way, 'The Clasp' is a perverse wish fulfillment book," Crosley told MPR News producer Maddy Mahon. "I didn't want to write another book that was just a bunch of literary people sitting around Brooklyn, talking about how tough they have it as liberal arts-graduated white kids. So I thought: Okay, you want out of your lives so much? Wish granted. And that's why they end up going on this adventure that's very much international and outside of their own neuroses."

For the full discussion with Sloan Crosley on "The Clasp," the likeability of characters and the shift from nonfiction to fiction, use the audio player above.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

MPR News Staff

Author

Sloane Crosley launched her writing career in nonfiction, but her debut novel lets her "be free from the constraints of reality," she said.

Essayist Sloane Crosley dives into fiction with 'The Clasp'

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