The Kitchen Man
A Novel by Ira Wood

"In this delightful, laugh-out-loud first novel, Gabe Rose, the brash Jewish waiter with a play in his pocket, is looking for his big chance. Where else to find it but at the gilded, overpriced tables of Boston's fanciest restaurant, where crooked politicians, tight Old Money, preppies, parvenus and, of course, the stars come to dine on yesterday's fish under tonight's hollandaise? Under-30 Gabe contrives to meet over-40 Cynthia Kagan, a tough, sexy playwright-director, big in feminist circles…Plot and character are pas de deux under Wood's fast-stepping, always engaging choreography, but how to explain all the sharp and colorful, emotionally honest, sometimes heart-grabbing ensemble work? Besides the fun, The Kitchen Man is about love and loyalty outside conventional categories of age, gender and body proportions, a gamey kind of You Can't Take It With You with extremely recognizable people."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Fresh, vital…totally convincing…Mr. Wood has a special gift for heartwarming comedy."
—The New York Times Book Review

Ira Wood's latest novel is Storm Tide (co-authored by Marge Piercy). It is available in paperback in a special Ballantine Books Reader's Cirlcle edition which includes an intimate interview with Piercy and Wood about the process of co-authoring fiction. Their award-winning book about writing, So You Want To Write: How to Master the Craft of Fiction and the Personal Narrative is available from Leapfrog Press.

Check out the Ira Wood Workshops and Publishing Lectures.

NOVEL
$14.95 Trade Paperback
ISBN 0-9654578-3-4
306 Pages/ 6 x 9

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