Summary

Just Annoying Bureaucratic Shit opens on Naomi mulling over Hannah’s decision not to stay home for Christmas, as well as her decision to never return to Goddard, New Hampshire, where she did VISTA work, broke up with her ex-husband Daniel, and met a man who is not further discussed but is Hannah’s father. Francine and Naomi then go on a hike together, in which Naomi notes that the boundary between Francine and Naomi’s personal troubles and their friendship had “been settled early on” (160). Despite this, Naomi tries to ask about the stress Francine is experiencing, relating to Sumner and the Hawthorne Academy, which leads to Francine promptly ending the conversation. The next week, Naomi attends a New Year’s Eve party at the Rigor’s, at which she meets Joanne Lattimer, a...