Heroic Measures

Ruth and Alex Cohen are saying goodbye to their beloved New York apartment - because how can they turn down a million dollars? Tomorrow they will open their doors to the eclectic, maddening house-hunters of this city. But Manhattan is in chaos; an unmarked petrol truck is blocking the city's main tunnel, spreading fears of terrorism and threatening to disrupt a sacred bidding war over the ageing couple's home. Across town, their adored old dachshund Dorothy lies sick in a hospital cage. She doesn't understand why she has been abandoned - all she knows is that Death is coming for her, and she isn't ready. Unravelling over a long weekend, Heroic Measures is a bittersweet, comic tale of what it means to grow old in a world you no longer recognise. It is also a gentle paean to New York, to fleeting beauty, and to holding on to what we love with all our might.

About the Author :
ill Ciment was born in Montreal, Canada. She is the author of Small Claims, a collection of short stories and novellas; the novels The Law of Falling Bodies, Teeth of the Dog, The Tattoo Artist, and Heroic Measures; and a memoir, Half a Life. She has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, among them a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, two New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and a Guggenheim fellowship. Ciment is a professor at the University of Florida. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, and Brooklyn, New York. Pushkin will publish her latest novel Act of God in 2016.

Review :
Smart and funny and completely surprising. I've already bought a copy for everyone I know... I loved every page -- Ann Patchett A brave, generous, nearly perfect novel Los Angeles Times Read [it] for its painterly depictions of a rattled city, its deliciously biting satire of media and real estate madness, its tender knowledge of the creaturely ties that bind O, The Oprah Magazine Every once in a while, someone writes a book that, on the surface, is simple and quiet, yet underneath is stirringly beautiful and full of life and love... Heroic Measures is this kind of book Globe and Mail A wonderfully shrewd and delicate book Boston Globe It all sounds so ordinary - dogs get sick; people want to move - yet in Ms. Ciment's delicate hands, these characters become heroic in their small ways Wall Street Journal (a summer reading pick) Gripping... Ciment plays the veterinary, real estate and domestic details like elements of a thriller plot, while the couple's love of their dog provides heart-rending texture -- starred review Publisher's Weekly Ciment is a writer of bracing intensity, but she also possesses a pirouetting wit... [her] charming comedy of concerns has remarkable resonance Booklist [Heroic Measures] brilliantly conveys the combination of trivial personal concerns and fluttering panic a terrorist threat brings to a major city Big Issue Beautifully written, tender and funny Daily Mail A lovely read about long-term love Good Housekeeping A wry look at old age and a brilliant portrait of a rapidly changing city. Warm, humorous and witty The Lady