"Handsome, impeccably tuxedoed Bruno Alexander travels the world winning large sums of money from amateur "whales" who think they can challenge his peerless acumen at backgammon. Fronted by his pasty, vampiric manager, Edgar Falk, Bruno arrives in Berlin after a troubling run of bad luck in Singapore. Perhaps it was the chance encounter with his crass childhood acquaintance Keith Stolarsky and his smoldering girlfriend Tira Harpaz. Or perhaps it was...

"At twelve, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boys his age: he was moody, messy, rambunctious, and perpetually at odds with his parents. Yet somehow, this normal boy became one of the youngest people on whom Dr. Walter Freeman performed his barbaric transorbital--or ice pick--lobotomy. Abandoned by his family within a year of the surgery, Howard spent his teen years in mental institutions, his twenties in jail, and his thirties in...

A collection of stories includes "Home," a wryly whimsical account of a soldier's return from war; "Victory Lap," a tale about an inventive abduction attempt; and the title story, in which a suicidal cancer patient saves the life of a young misfit.

"Ady Barkan loved taking afternoon runs on the California coast and holding his newborn son, Carl. But one day, he noticed a troubling weakness in his hand. At first, he brushed it off as carpal tunnel syndrome, but after a week of neurological exams and two MRIs, he learned the cause of the problem: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. At age 32, Ady was given just three to four years to live. Yet despite the...

When Alice Raikes slips into a coma following an accident that could have been a suicide attempt, her family gathers at her bedside to wait and recall her life and loves.

A woman who strengthened her relationship with the love of her life after he was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer discusses her journey with him during this tough time, from getting engaged on his hospital bed to having a baby while he was on chemotherapy.

"Small-town Appalachia doesn't have a lot going for it, but it's where Brian is from, where his family is, and where he's chosen to return to die. At eighteen, Brian, like so many other promising young gay men, arrived in New York City without much more than a love for the freedom and release from his past that it promised. But within six short years, AIDS would claim his lover, his friends, and his future. With nothing left in New York but memories...

"A propulsive page-turner about four families whose lives are changed when the unthinkable happens--and what is lost when we give in to our own worst impulses On Harlow Street, the well-to-do neighborhood couples and their children gather for a catered barbecue as the summer winds down; drinks continue late into the night. Everything is fabulous until the picture-perfect hostess explodes in fury because her son disobeys her. Everyone at the party...

"Elizabeth is a gifted surgeon--the only female consultant at her hospital. But while operating on a young woman with life-threatening blood poisoning, something goes horribly wrong. In the midst of a new scheme to publicly report surgeons' performance, her colleagues begin to close ranks, and Elizabeth's life is thrown into disarray. Tough and abrasive, Elizabeth has survived and succeeded in this most demanding, palpably sexist field. But can she...

A dying man plays matchmaker for his soon-to-be widow in this wry, evocative novel perfect for fans of P.S. I Love You. "Promise me you will laugh every day. Fight every day. Do you know how beautiful you look when you're angry? Promise me you'll learn to cuss, learn to love again. Live again. Promise me you won't give up on each other." Simi Desai is thirty years-old, and her husband is dying of cancer. He has two last wishes in his final months:...