Lonely Crowds: A Novel Sarah Blakley-Cartwright then this here's a bet

then this here's a bet that'll sure to pay off

Thirty years ago

steam and froth milk with an espresso maker

Sometimes it pays to be gay and do crime

scoring and decorating with fun textures

Lonely Crowds: A Novel Sarah Blakley-Cartwright then this here's a betTIME's 100 Must Read Books of 2025 Vulture's Best Books of 2025 Luster meets The Idiot in this riveting debut novel about a volatile friendship between two outsiders who escape their bleak childhoods and enter the glamorous early '90s art world in New York City, where only one of them can make it. Ruth, an only child of recent immigrants to New England, lives in an emotionally cold home and attends the local Catholic girl's school on a scholarship.