Kissing in Manhattan

Hilarious, sexy, and deeply tender, Kissing in Manhattan was one of the most celebrated debuts in recent years. Acclaimed author David Schickler's collection of linked stories followsa troupe of love-hungry urbanites through a charmed metropolis and into the Preemption--a mythic Manhattan apartment building. The Preemption sets the stage for a romantic fantasy as exuberant, dark, and dazzling as thecity it occupies. Behind closed doors, the paths of an improbable cast of tenants--a seductive perfume heiress; a crabby, misunderstood actor; a preternaturally sharp-sighted priest--tangle and cross, while a perilous lovetriangle builds around three characters:

James Branch, a shy young accountant with an unusual love for the Preemption's antique elevator, and a strange destiny...

PatrickRigg, a Wall Street lothario who soothes his pain by seducing

beautiful women, carrying a gun, and attending the nightly sermons of a foreboding priest...

Rally McWilliams, a fetching, hopefulyoung writer who roams the city at night, searching for the soulmate she believes in but can't find...

Charged with joy and a deadly sense of humor, Kissing in Manhattan is adaring new writer's vision of a world where men and women, good and evil, love and sex, meet, battle, and embrace on every street corner. "From the Trade Paperback edition."