In the tradition of Jay McInerney, Grant Ginder’s phenomenal debut novel follows one post-collegiate idealist on his quest to fit in with—and then distance himself from—capital hill’s up-andcoming political and social elite who work hard but play harder.

• Striking debut: echoing with razor-sharp commentary, This Is How It Starts deftly captures the escapades of D.C.’s moneyed, socially and politically connected recent graduates. In this Bright Lights, Big City for the beltway, secrets are currency, the sex is bipartisan, and rules and boundaries are obsolete.

• Remarkable voice: Ginder’s writing is smart, witty, and resonates with an authenticity that will hook literary-minded readers of Brett easton ellis, Jeff Hobbs, and Joshua Ferris.

• Intriguing narrator: Taylor mack may have graduated from Princeton, but his Laguna Beach upbringing inadequately prepared him for life among D.C.’s movers and shakers. entertaining mishaps aside, Taylor soon discerns how to play the game and learns the cost of being an insider in a town that is unyielding in what it will take from a person in exchange for granting him a margin of knowledge and power.