New York: Hyperion, (2004) dj. Hardcover first edition - Award winning poet's first novel, a story of "a lost young woman and her aged grandmother, both of whom have scores to settle with life, and a great deal to offer each other. Jennifer Stempler has taken herself to Venice Beach to get lost in the crowd, ingest enough Xanax and tequila to do herself in, and simply lie down and die. Instead, the metal-combed beach sweeper stops just short of her inert form and her plan is foiled. . . Enter the quintessential Jewish grandmother, Gittel "Gabby" Zuckerman, Holocaust survivor and fearless old lady. She convinces Jennifer's pompous father and her Doctor to let Jennifer go to New York with her." 198 pp. ISBN: 1-40130110X.