Self-absorbed Barnaby Griswold has to lose it all—money, homes, and family—before he gets a shot at becoming the unlikely hero of his own life.
Griswold is indisputably a fool. A well-educated, well-connected investments player on the one hand, but an entitled money-driven cretin on the other. His life changes almost overnight when he’s found to have acted slimily (but not illegally) by selling a stock short. His wife deserts him, his daughters disown him, and he loses his final and favorite home. At forty-six, disgraced and broke and lonely, Barnaby must repair his life to find redemption.
Out of print for more than a decade, Frederick G. Dillen’s comic novel about an unlikely hero is now being reissued as part of librarian and NPR commentator Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust Rediscoveries series.
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" Read this because I enjoyed Nancy Pearl's others suggestions. Overall liked it, but found it very slow moving. However, loved the ending...one of my favorite endings. Interesting read, but took time to get through. "
— Pieshine, 8/15/2013" A clever little book short on plot but rich on character development. I can definately identify with the main character, Barnaby Griswold. "
— Kevin, 10/3/2012Frederick G. Dillen is an award-winning author whose short fiction has appeared in literary quarterlies and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards. His first novel, Hero, was named Best First Novel of 1994 by the Dictionary of Literary Biography. His second novel, Fool, was honored by Nancy Pearl as a Book Lust Rediscoveries selection in 2012. Dillen and his wife, Leslie, are parents of two grown daughters and live in New Mexico.
David Colacci is an actor and director who has directed and performed in prominent theaters nationwide. His credits include roles from Shakespeare to Albee, as well as extensive work on new plays. As a narrator, he has won numerous Earphones Awards, earned Audie Award nominations, and been included in Best Audio of the Year lists by such publications as Publishers Weekly, AudioFile magazine, and Library Journal. He was a resident actor and director with the Cleveland Play House for eight years and has been artistic director of the Hope Summer Rep Theater since 1992.