Paradise Dance

Michael Lee’s short stories have a rare quality. They are tough, hard-bitten, and surprisingly sensitive to the nuances that motivate behavior in people we assume too quickly are without nuance. What a good read!–Norman Mailer

Michael Lee is a New England literary treasure–and until now, a secret. An original voice from the working-class outskirts of Boston, Lee’s standing-room-only readings have been delighting audiences for twenty years. Leapfrog is proud to be the first to collect his poignant and hilarious stories about Nam vets, waitresses, mediocre professors, middle managers, fathers and sons; people who are having a hard time of it, but who cling for dear life to that which holds them up: their sense of humor and a few fleeting moments of love. With equal parts sadness and belly laugh, a trace of Raymond Carver mixed with Dave Barry, Lee fulfills the time-honored ingredient for a good read: make ‘em laugh, make 'em weep!

In Michael Lee’s stunningly crafted stories, we find people who suffer few illusions as to how they’ve lost their way, people on the cusp of making peace with all that will never be, yet who still yearn for one good kiss, one true triumph, one moment of lasting grace. Lee’s vision is full of compassion, forgiveness, and hope, but is also unsparing in its veracity made all the more symphonic with humor: a tender humor that does not mask the wounds here, but tends to them. This is an important and memorable collection.–Andre Dubus III

Marketing Plans: - Author tour: NYC, New England and NY State - Coop Available - Advertising in key literary and trade magazines

Michael Lee is a Senior Editor at The Cape Cod Voice and a former editor of Miami Magazine. He received his MFA from Emerson College and lives on Cape Cod.