BEFORE ELVIS THERE WAS NOTHING

Absurdist characters in surreal situations populate Foos's spare fifth novel, which despite its comedic charms, derails in a confused jumble of half-realized ideas and unresolved plot lines. Cass, a 30-something hair replacement specialist, and her agoraphobic sister, Lena, are defined by the disappearance of their parents, who abandoned their teenage daughters on the 10th anniversary of Elvis's death to seek the King. Foos, a deft humorist, hobbles herself by chaining the novel to an ongoing Elvis joke. Lena is an emotional cripple who spends her days waiting futilely for letters from her parents and her evenings online with her Elvis-freak Internet psychiatrist. Cass, a stunning beauty with a podiatrist boyfriend and an obsession with Yiddishkeit and Judaism, seems to function better than her sister. But her repressed difficulties—or evidence of chosenness—soon take the form of a six-inch horn sprouting from her forehead. She consults a suspicious "goy" doctor, who sends her to a mysterious in-patient facility to have the growth removed. From here, the book veers toward a fantastical conclusion that lacks emotional resonance. Despite Foos's charming, conversational prose and thematic ambitions, the novel may leave readers more perplexed than provoked. (May)