Greenpoint Press Publishes SCHMUCK by Ross Klavan

Schmuck, a new novel by author Ross Klavan has just been published by Greenpoint Press. Klavan's work spans film, television, radio and live performance. Schmuck is a raucous, wild novel of love, war, rioting and radio that's as funny as a heart attack and as serious as hell. Shmuck is based loosely on the experiences of Ross Klavan's father, Gene Klavan, who was half of the wildly popular New York City radio duo, Klavan and Finch, rivals to Bob and Ray.

The novel is set in 1960's New York; radio is king, and Elkin and Fox are the hottest morning team in town. Jerry Elkin is the funny half-a genius at dialects and double-talk, zingers and zany characters. Sinatra flies him to Vegas on his private lane, and Rocky Graziano drinks with him (and punches him). But Jerry's life? That's no laughing matter. Secretly, he seethes at his straight-man partner, Ted Fox, a handsome rake who'd rather shtup a secretary in the studio than entertain TV offers, a guy who makes Jerry feel less a star and more a schmuck. And that's before Jerry hears the name Sari Rosenbloom. The stunning 18-year old is a mystical American dream, irresistible to men-and her most obsessed admirer is Jake, Jerry's son. With the 1960s world spinning out of control, Jake is fighting for a girl who can have anyone she wants-from the world famous artist who has sketched her nude to bon vivant Ted Fox, who's singing her name on air. And that's before Jerry gets a gander at Sari's father. Max Rosenbloom works in "salvage"-in other words, he burns down factories, sells poisoned pajamas to Chinese children and sometimes buries his enemies in cement. If Jake doesn't stop going after his princess daughter, Max might make Jerry's son, Jerry's career and Jerry's whole post-war world disappear right off the dial.

There has already been advance praise for Schmuck. John Bowers, author of The Colony said, "Delightful reading, but be forewarned. There is often seriousness beneath a tale whose Yiddish title means roughly 'a dope.' It's Jewish New York and will make you laugh one minute, wince another, but will let you find yourself in it, no matter who you think you are."

Greenpoint Press is a division of New York Writers Resources, and a not-for-profit publisher. For more information on Greenpoint Press, visit their web site, www.greenpointpress.org.

To purchase Schmuck by Ross Klavan, visit http://www.amazon.com/SCHMUCK-Ross-Klavan/dp/0988696835.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Ross Klavan