Help Wanted by Maura Johnston Price: $5 Format: Minibook Availability: In stock, Shipping Normally

Maura Johnston -- uh, that's Maura Dot Com -- is a freelance writer based out of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Maura writes about music and relationships and where to get a really good martini. You've probably seen her writing somewhere or other if you've been net savvy for more than a few years. She's been writing online and off since, egads, the mid 90s.

Our point: She knows what she's doing. Maura Johnston is a pro.

This book is her debut into the ol' world of short story collections. Help Wanted contains 6 short stories, each one kicked off by a newspaper help wanted ad. The stories range from 1 page to a whopping 7 pages, each one like a delicate snowflake (or a candy nugget) of wit. Maura knows how silly it all is. Here, look at this:

WRITER
Medical company looking for copywriter who can communicate virtues of company to public effectively, efficiently. Must have five years experience in pharmaceutical, resumes without pharm experience will not be considered. EOE.

"So then, what do you do now?" she asked him, lighting a cigarette.

"I'm -- I'm a writer," he said. As "writer" came out of his mouth, his chest puffed up.

She laughed. "Isn't everybody?" she said. And she blew smoke right into his face.

Isn't that funny? Yeah, that's funny. And smart!

On the back cover

HELP WANTED or, Twentysomething Characters in Search of a Purpose is a collection of six short stories following the lives of a melange of underemployed urbanites in thrall to the want ads. There is public transportation. There will be flirtation with murder detectives. There will be commentary on "writers" as well as directors of city documentary. There is a tip jar. Weddings are mentioned, as well as divorces-also the Mets, and how to order a drink in a Masterful Manner. Apply in person. No calls. No exp. req'd. EOE.

Maura Johnston, on why you should buy her book

Hi. I'm Maura Johnston. I wrote a bunch of short stories and titled them "Help Wanted" in honor of my own quest for a job. (I'm employed now, thanks for asking. The vending machines even have Pop-Tarts here.) Most -- well, okay, all -- of the stories in the book are about twentysomethings who are un- or underemployed. This seemed to be something of a trend in the urban hamlet where I spent the two years leading up to this book's publication: talented, smart idealist-types would attempt to avoid the rat race of the city's major industry (for example, pharmaceuticals), get a job doing something that paid just enough to pay rent, and spend many hours wondering just exactly what they'd been doing for the past few years, why they kept running into the ditzes from their Nabokov discussion groups in the street, and how those same women had managed to weasel themselves into a position where they could afford the expensive, pointy shoes that the idealistic types focused on during every "wow, it's been such a long time!" conversation. "Help Wanted" is the details that aren't given out when the woman who grabbed your mortarboard by accident asks you, "So, like, what's up?"

I hope you enjoy it.