Based upon Availability: A Novel - Softcover

Strauss, Alix

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061845264 ISBN 13: 9780061845260

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2010

Synopsis

From the very first page of this stunning novel, readers are drawn into the lives of eight seemingly ordinary women who pass through Manhattan's swanky Four Seasons Hotel. While offering sanctuary to some, solace to others, the hotel captures their darkest moments as they grapple with family, sex, power, love, and death.

Trish obsesses over her best friend's wedding and dramatic weight loss. Robin wants revenge after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her older sister. Anne is single, lonely, and suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Drug-addicted rock star Louise needs to dry out. Southerner turned wannabe Manhattanite Franny is envious of her neighbors' lives. Sheila wants to punish her boyfriend for returning to his wife. Ellen so desperately wants children that she insists she's pregnant to her disbelieving husband. And Morgan, the hotel manager—haunted by the memory of her dead sister—is the thread that weaves these women's lives together.

About this title

About the Author:

Alix Strauss is a lifestyle trend writer who appears on national morning and talk shows. Her articles have been published in the New York Times, Marie Claire, Time, and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications. She is the author of The Joy of Funerals, Have I Got a Guy for You, and Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous, and the Notorious.

Review:

“This sharp and brilliant novel shows that truth cannot be seen from the outside. You’ll absorb every anecdote’s last detail as real human connection resurfaces and these women take steps to become the people they’ve always dreamed they’d be.” (Elle)

“Strauss has a knack for inserting the kinds of surprises that shock but also strengthen the impact of the novel. ” (More.com)

“This is the classic read-it-in-one-big-gulp book. Or spend several days at the beach with it; compelling from first page to last -- edgy, moving, human.” (Liz Smith, Page Six)

“Colorful writing...Strauss takes on famed New York lodging the Four Seasons, filling the storied hostelry with colorful women characters who share a common human bond.” (New York Post)

“Strauss has a knack for inserting the kinds of surprises that shock but also strengthen the impact of the novel. ” (Baltimore Morning Sun)

“Stellar...Subplots play out and scenes are revisited courtesy of a number of perspectives―hotel employees, friends and family, hotel guests―creating a near mosaic with twinges of darkness....this is quite sublime. (Publishers Weekly)

“Mesmerizing...the characters in this moving novel are achingly sympathetic, their plights eminently relatable.” (Booklist)

“Imminently entertaining...an insightful and engrossing character study of eight women not so very different than you or I. Looking past their superficial differences, you will find yourself identifying, in at least some small measure, with each and every one of them―like it or not!” (Bookclubcheerleader.com)

From Strauss (stories: The Joy of Funerals, 2003, etc.), a novel concerning a Manhattan Four Seasons manager who witnesses the alarmingly bleak lives of women (herself included) confronting the loss of youth...These New York stories will remind some readers of Parker―as in Dorothy, not Sarah Jessica. (Kirkus Reviews)

“BASED UPON AVAILABILITY is like a beautifully-wrapped gift box, full of unexpected pleasures. Alix Strauss proves herself to be an astute and deeply feeling observer of human nature.” (Dani Shapiro, author of Black & White)

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0061845264
• ISBN 13: 9780061845260
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 340