One-Night Stands with Wild Strangers

ALLISON, THE PROTAGONIST of Amy Silverberg’s debut novel, First Time, Long Time, is a writer in her late twenties cobbling together a living the way many Angelenos do, with a couple part-time jobs: leading book clubs for wealthy women, adjuncting at a local community college. The book’s premise is somewhat more unexpected. One day, Allison settles down to write at a Silver Lake bar and finds herself sitting next to the most famous radio DJ in the United States. Despite the odds, the misgivings, and a 30-year age gap, Allison ends up dating this Howard Stern–esque DJ, and we watch as she is swept into this famous man’s orbit.