“In New York, you collect a thousand encounters a year, a passel of handshakes, a zillion air-kisses, and boatloads of business cards that you pitch into your purse and eventually deposit your chewing gum into. Amid this break-neck montage of glancing contacts, I'm tormented by the constant thrumming fear of being fingered as a flake.”

American author, editor, and journalist

Mary H.K. Choi is an American author, editor, and journalist. She is known for her young adult novels, including Emergency Contact, Permanent Record, and Yolk, and for her work in television and print media. She serves as the culture correspondent on Vice News Tonight on HBO. Before that, she wrote columns for Wired and Allure and worked as a freelance writer. Her work moves between fiction and journalism, especially around culture and contemporary life.