Chapter 10, Blank Girl Summary and Analysis

Wurtzel is in the infirmary, reading a book and watching television. The U.S. Figure Skating Championship is on TV and she is captivated by Debi Thomas. Although she will later find out that these women suffer a similar fate of loneliness, she thinks that Thomas is a star and gets overly carried away in Thomas' joy of the moment of competing. She remembers crying over Robert Redford's performance in The Natural and her mother asking her if she is related to the character. However, in reality she is crying because she has gifts, but they are unspecific and she has no particular way to express this.

Dr. Sterling agrees that Wurtzel needs to continue her schoolwork while in the infirmary. However, she starts to become obsessed that Dr. Sterlin is going to leave her, too. She...