Talk-show host Nora Bridge insists that her estranged daughter Ruby, a struggling comedienne, come to her childhood home in the San Juan islands while Nora convalesces. Ruby has her own agenda, including writing a tell-all biography of her famous mother.

"A semi-autobiographical novel follows the experiences of a successful but lonely, slightly overweight movie star who seeks to escape depression through a new romance and an Oscar-worthy role, only to discover the universe's alternative plans."--Provided by publisher.

"Franny Steinberg knows there's powerful magic in laughter. She's witnessed it. With the men of Chicago off fighting WWII on distant shores, Franny has watched the women of the city taking charge of the war effort. But amidst the war bond sales and factory shifts, something surprising has emerged, something Franny could never have expected. A new marvel that has women flocking to comedy clubs across the nation: the Showstopper. When Franny steps into...

Sometimes in life, opposites are drawn to each other--somehow, each providing the other with something they don't have, but desperately need. National Book Award finalist Elizabeth McCracken pens this graceful, moving tale of an unlikely pairing of two men and their lifelong partnership in show business. Drawn to Vaudeville from a Jewish upbringing in a small town outside Des Moines, Mose Sharp meets Rocky Carter at a comedy club. Missing his usual...

Toby Temple is consumed by his appetite for revenge. Jill Castle pays her way in the entertainment business with her body, creating a trail of painful secrets. Between them is an unbreakable bond that makes them both more and less than human.

Jamie's an aspiring stand-up comic in Los Angeles with a growing case of stage anxiety. Siri's a stunning ballerina from New Jersey dealing with a career-changing injury. When the two girls meet at the Rediscover Yourself retreat in Colorado, they discover they are sisters separated as young children by their bitterly divorced parents. With some fortuitous magic, the two change places to confront their pasts.

After losing his wife and two young sons in an airplane crash, professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. Then, watching television one night, he sees a clip from a lost film by the silent comedian Hector Mann. Zimmer soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to study the works of this mysterious figure, who vanished from sight in 1929. Presumed dead for sixty years, Hector Mann was...

Herculeah stumbles onto the trail of her friend Meat's long-lost father while she and Meat are investigating the disappearance of a dead body from the men's room of a comedy club.

"John Connolly recreates the golden age of Hollywood for an intensely compassionate study of the tension among the commercial demands, artistic integrity, and the human frailties behind even the greatest of artists"--

"When Ari and Josh meet the first time, the wrong kind of sparks fly. They hate each other. Instantly. A free-spirited, struggling comedian who likes to keep things casual, Ari sublets, takes gigs, and lives by a code that ensures her friends-with-benefits stay firmly in the friendzone. She doesn't believe in morning sex because she never sleeps over. Born-and-bred Manhattanite Josh has ambitious plans: he'll take the culinary world by storm, find...