Painfully Awkward

In You're Ugly, Too by Lorrie Moore, the main character is a rather interesting woman.  She is from Maryland, and has relocated to the Midwest for work, currently residing along the border between Indiana and Illinois.  Her entire way about her is tired and worn out.  She is distant from the present and often unable to hold a meaningful conversation because she makes strange and random comments.  The most noticeable characteristic is her loneliness.  According to her frequent student reviews, she creates a very personal relationship with her students, "singing them songs, letting them call her at home, even, and ask personal questions," (Moore, 354).  It is as if she is making her students her outlet, as a friend would be.  When set up on a date with a man by her sister, Zoe, the main character, is awkward and has an extremely difficult time holding the conversation.  She finds defense in jokes, and even those are rather strained and painful.  Her best friend appears to be her sister, from whom she still keeps major secrets.  Her pattern is to automatically look at how poorly a situation could turn out, assume that is how reality will be, and protect herself by removing herself from potential involvement in any kind of situation.