The Second Derivative of Irony

Eighteen stories about people in prisons of their own devise-childhood awakenings; coming-of-age quandaries; ironical comeuppances; criminal excesses; personal compulsions. In "Mister Barnes or Mister Noble?" a timid woman stands up to an overbearing man who is harassing her lifelong friend. In "The Bear in the Mimosa Tree, " two children, out of boredom, seek out the "crazy man" in the neighborhood.
Screenwriters launch a sneaky gambit to assure their script gets read in "Pulling a Kissinger."A smitten young man comes to grips with the idiosyncrasies of his girlfriend in "The Thing About Ophelia."In "See How You Like Us Tomorrow, " an obsessed female cop goes postal on all truckers after being abducted by one. And in the title story, a nobody escapes his boring job at a New York publishing firm by dumpster-diving for a best-seller.