by Cynthia Ozick (1997)
From Cynthia Ozick, a masterful modern-day picaresque - the adventures of a female Don Quixote transplanted in Manhattan. Ruth Puttermesser, yearning for a life of the mind (her idol is George Eliot), finds herself mired in the lowest circles of city bureaucracy. Her love life is hopeless. Her fantasies are more influential than wan reality - she takes Hebrew lessons from an uncle who died before she was born; she makes a golem out of the earth of her houseplants. Still, she turns out to be the best mayor New York City has ever elected (with the most unusual campaign manager). Soon enough, though, paradise gained becomes paradise lost, and the impact of getting exactly what you want and then losing it plays itself out in dramatic and surprising fashion.
Ward Just
Three generations of the Behls, a politically ambitious family in Washington. The three men are Adolph, a senator during the 1930s and failed vice-president; his son, Axel, a World War II OSS agent and later a Cold War warrior; and Alec a successful lawyer and lobbyist during the reign of President Kennedy. By the author of Ambition and Love.
John Gardner
The story of a middle-aged man who runs a rural diner and the young, plain girl who drifts into his life.
Home District Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
Bye-laws and regulations of the Home District Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Toronto, Upper Canada by Home Fire is an acclaimed literary masterpiece celebrating major critical honors and timeless storytelling.
Saul Bellow
To Jerusalem and back is a celebrated work by Saul Bellow (Nobel Laureate, Pulitzer Prize Winner), recognized for masterclass storytelling and lasting literary resonance.