Next we come to what may be the single most detestable female character ever created: Harriet, the protagonist of Iris Owens' 1973 novel After Claude. She is arrogant yet horribly insecure; dismissive and contemptuous; yet needy and pathetic. She is disgusted with everyone around her, yet she begs hideously for their acceptance. But even as her situation goes from bad to unthinkable (and her behavior goes from desperate to unseemly to horrifying), Harriet reflects

—Heather Havrilesky