THE PLOT: Helen Memel is a precocious 18-year-old who has just checked herself into the hospital after a shaving mishap “down there.” (Warning: If you’re the kind of woman who says “down there,” this novel, by Charlotte Roche, isn’t for you.) Bedridden and bored, Helen reflects on her scandalous sexual exploits and poor hygiene habits, sparing no gross-out detail, in between attempts to get her divorced parents back together.
