The Unblemished Darlings

About the Book

When Allwin Snarkle comes up with a preposterous get-rich-quick scheme, he quickly snares the attention of his luckless friend Olympia and a gaggle of other bumblers, all eager to increase their incomes in New York City of the early 1990s. Unfortunately none of these would-be entrepreneurs can seem to do anything right, from the greedy Dr. Jerky, a plastic surgeon who lost his license by mixing up his patients with disastrous results, to Fatty Friendly, the obese and creative accountant jealously guarding the fidelity of his Miss Universe runner-up girlfriend, to the chronically unemployed and gluttonous Mr. Bellybee. It's one disaster after another, as this crew makes its way through Manhattan on a mission to moonlight to millions.

The Unblemished Darlings is a comic novel about the absurdity of much of the human enterprise. It is filled with zany characters, human and animal, some of them with unpronounceable names, all of them, the humans that is, out for a buck. It is also a hilariously improbable romance, with a heroine who is definitely not thin, not rich, more than a little addled and somewhat over-the-hill. But her unlikely suitor loves her, if only he could bring himself to let her know and if only he didn't have so much competition! From the moment the first bird droppings land on Snarkle's head, to the pigeon that tries to steal his dessert, to his beloved's tiny but ferocious dog that attacks him at every opportunity, the entire animal world seems to be conspiring against poor Snarkle; and the humans are not making his romantic pursuit any easier either.

About the Author

Eve Ottenberg has published two other novels, Glum and Mighty Pagans, a comedy about real estate in New York, and The Widow's Opera, a dark tragedy about murder and betrayal. She has written a weekly column, "Hard Times" for The Village Voice, about the politics of housing in Manhattan. She also covered the criminal courts for the Voice. Her book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Baltimore Sun. The Philadelphia Inquirer. USA Today, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Nation and many-other publications. She has published articles in Vogue, Working Mother and other magazines and newspapers and has worked as an editor at several publications. She has a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Chicago and an M.L.S. from the University of Maryland. She is married, has three children and resides in Maryland, where she is a school library media specialist.