In handwringers, characters embrace hope gleaned from a reliance on various media, their chattering anxiety circles identity, authenticity, religion, and culture. This collection of short stories and flash fiction revolves around Jewish identity and the schlemiel -- a figure in Jewish folklore described as "one who handles a situation in the worst possible manner or is dogged by an ill luck that is more or less due to his own ineptness." The stories are a delightfully chaotic experience. Collectively, moments of epiphany and/or crisis speak of people deliriously trying to connect, clinging to would-be wisdoms and TV tag-lines, while failing to locate their misplaced communities. It is a particularly apt book for our current world, where chaos and anxiety reign.