Wonder Mom and Party Girl

Sat., May 9, 4-8 p.m., $10-$12, American Swedish Historical Museum, 1900 Pattison Ave., 215-389-1776, philadelphiastories.org.

by Christina Shaffer

"Whatever is supposed to make us happy today will only be replaced by a bigger, better, faster model tomorrow, so we'll always be hungry for more," says local author Marc Schuster of his novel, The Singular Exploits of Wonder Mom and Party Girl. Recently released by Philly publisher PS Books, Schuster's first work of fiction explores expectations inflicted upon women — reliability, success, sexiness — and their lasting effects (in the case of this protagonist, a nasty cocaine habit). Philadelphia Stories magazine, which runs PS and supports local writers, hosts a fundraiser this weekend — expect food, readings and music from the likes of Beretta76 — to celebrate Schuster's novel and support PS's mission to feed those hungry writers.