Always Happy Hour weaves tales of young women who are deeply flawed, intensely real, and who struggle to get out of their own way. These women love to drink and have sex; they make bad decisions with men who love them too much or too little; they haunt gas stations, public pools, and dive bars, seeking understanding in the most unlikely of places; and, although each shoulders the weight of different baggage, they all suspect they deserve better. In this collection of acerbic and ruefully funny stories, Miller takes a microscope to love and intimacy, evoking the reticence of love among the misunderstood, the grit and comfort of bad habits that can't be broken, and the beat-by-beat minutiae of ill-fated relationships.
"Stellar...Miller's collection feels so true because it never glosses over the desperate or unflattering portrayals of its narrators, but neither does it exploit their faults. These stories acutely explore boyfriends, exes, poor choices, and the sad fallout of so many doomed relationships."
Publishers Weekly, Starred and Boxed Review
"Readers will find themselves riveted...The 16 stories in this collection…feel both homey and exotic, limning lives at once familiar and distinctly their own. Like a two-for-one drink special or a boxful of beer, this bracingly strong collection may prove intoxicating."
