From Rachel Kushner, a writer celebrated for her "chops, ambition, and killer instinct" (John Powers, NPR) and a contributor to the New Yorker and the New York times magazine, a career-spanning collection of spectacular essays encompassing politics, culture, and cars, Rachel Kushner, author of three award-winning novels, including The Flamethrowers and The Mars Room, has firmly established herself as one of our finest fiction writers. She is also a master of the essay form: The Hard Crowd is a collection of twenty razor-sharp pieces on art and literature, motorcycle racing, truckers, classic cars, politics and social justice, and the San Francisco music scene of her youth. Kushner's writing is electric; her range, dazzling. Now includes a new essay, "naked childhood," about Kushner's family, their converted school bus, and the summers of love in Oregon and San Francisco Book jacket.