Mandelbaum's lukewarm attempt at literary chick lit (after Garrett in Wedlock)
stars Adriane Gelki, a confused, single woman approaching her 30s, stumbling through life's myriad complications and discovering her potential at odd intervals. Though gainfully employed at the Baltimore mayor's Office of Neighborhood Enhancement, Adriane's got issues: the daughter of a double-suicide, her feelings of abandonment permeate her life. Her attempts to "live a little" begin when she propositions an undercover cop as a joke, which leads to her arrest for prostitution, followed by obligatory counseling with a therapist who dies on her in the midst of a session. A subsequent series of bizarre events don't quite gel. Adriane meets a porn-producing Frenchman, dates a polyamorous man who brings her to a New Year's Eve sex party, and adopts a stray dog whom she nurtures in her bed like a lover until it bites off her ear in the middle of the night. Inspired by her idol, Thelonius Monk, Adriane channels her emotions into playing piano at a dive bar that eventually gets held up. In a final twist, she travels to India on a spiritual quest. Loose ends and relentless implausibility prevent this story from living up to the promise of Mandelbaum's creative talents. Agent, Betsy Amster.
(Dec.)
