“Somewhere in the family romance lies, each of us suspects, the secret or mystery of erotic power, the source of sexual energy to which, with slight but significant variations, we again and again return. Within the givens of familial, racial, gender, and class history lie the materials out of which we must make ourselves. Elise Paschen’s Infidelities explores these themes in powerful, striking ways. Paschen is as haunted as everyone else; out of this she has made a haunting book.” —Frank Bidart