The First Chapter of My Book

My super-agent Ted Gideonse of the Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency in New York has been working tirelessly to push my first novel, which is called IN LIGHT OF RECENT EVENTS. He is a fantastic human being and I am very lucky to have him on my side. (His attention is particularly mystifying since he's often so busy managing all of client Dennis Lahane's MYSTIC RIVER and SHUTTER ISLAND [much-deserved] glory.)

Anyway, if you're interested, you can now read the first chapter of IN LIGHT OF RECENT EVENTS on the agency's website.

I am tempted to talk about the book and to defend some of the criticism it's gotten from publishers who by and large seem to have liked it very much, but feel that using 9/11 as the backdrop for a comic novel is prohibitively insensitive. But I'll (mostly) refrain.

I do feel that they've missed the point and that indeed the main character is honestly struggling to make sense of his life in a changed world. It's just that the character is a bit of a dimwit, is self-obsessed, and happens to work in a very shallow profession: he is a sitcom actor. Clearly viewing the tragedy through his prism is wrong; I should have indeed chosen a ten year-old girl living in Queens who lost her secretary Mom in Tower One. My mistake.

Anyway, enjoy.