Sneak Peek: Broadway Baby by Alan Shapiro

Today we have an early peek at Alan Shapiro’s forthcoming novel, Broadway Baby, landing in bookstores on January 24th. We have five autographed copies to give away to our readers. For a chance to win one, just leave a comment here or on our Facebook page and you’ll be automatically entered!

About Broadway Baby:

As a little girl growing up in Boston, Miriam Bluestein fantasized about a life lived on stage, specifically in a musical. Get married, have a family—sure, maybe she’d do those things, too, but first and foremost there was her career. As a woman, she is both tormented and consoled by those dreams in her day-to-day existence with her family, including a short-tempered husband, a cranky mother, and three demanding children, one of whom, Ethan, shows real talent for the stage.

It is through Ethan that Miriam strives to realize her dreams. As she pushes him to make the most of his talent, the rest of her life gradually comes undone, with her husband becoming increasingly frustrated and her other two children—Sam, a mass of quirks and idiosyncrasies, and Julie, hostile and bitter—withdrawing into their own worlds. Still Miriam dreams, praying for that big finale, which, when it comes, is nothing that she ever could have imagined.

Broadway Baby marks the fiction debut of a nationally acclaimed award-winning memoirist and poet, “an acute observer of moments, people, art and language [who] packs even seemingly simple stories with many layers of meaning” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Praise:

“If his book elicits sorrow it’s due to Shapiro’s smashing ability to portray Bluestein as a romantic . . . Broadway Baby is an ordinary story told extraordinarily well. Bluestein is as flawed as any human but is heroic all the same.” – Louisville Courier-Journal

“When great poets like Shapiro write their novels, they bring their powers of wordsmithery to the page . . . They do more than simply describe the action, so that the pleasure of reading a good story is enhanced.” – Durham Herald-Sun

“Shapiro . . . offers an endearing, witty, and heart-warming take on family life . . . Equally sad and laugh-out-loud funny and boasting a cast of vibrant characters, this book is sure to hit a nerve with readers, no matter what their background. Readers will find themselves alternately rooting for Miriam and for her much-suffering family members. Sure to be a favorite.”– Library Journal

“How do you put into words thunderous applause, curtain calls and a standing ovation? That’s what I send out to Alan Shapiro’s remarkable debut novel, Broadway Baby, a beautifully written, often hilarious, memorably moving account of the one and only Miriam Bluestein’s greatest performance:  her life.”– Jill McCorkle, author of Going Away Shoes

Read an excerpt:

Tags: Alan Shapiro, Broadway Baby, Sneak Peek