Foreign Friends

In this paean to New York City, we meet Ashley Hall a rich kid from Connecticut who's always been an oddball with an irreverent sense of humor. Now, she's fed up with everything and everyone. Trapped in an engagement to a reactionary sexist moron, she's itching to bust out of her conformist life in every way.

From sex in the bathrooms to tearful communal hugging in the middle of production meetings, P&P Music Books where Ashley works as an editor, isn't your usual publishing company. Lydia Petrova, a washed-up Russian opera diva is the cheapskate boss that employs a nympho new-age commune to do most of the jobs, while she terrorizes the employees.

Enter Carlotta, from Advertising. A lesbian amazon with a unique wardrobe, she leaves sensual poems on Ashley's desk and flirts with her in ways that delight and confuse her simultaneously.

There was "no time to be dangerous" in Ashley's upbringing. Now, as she tries to balance on a tightrope between several different worlds, she craves major change. A budding social justice conscience pushes her to want to aid those in need and make a significant difference.

But how does the voice on the phone know this? A mysterious late-night call leads Ashley to unexpected involvement with a group of Central American revolutionaries. One thing leads to another and all hell-as well as hysterically outrageous comedy!-breaks loose.

Set entirely in 1987, this novel is as funny as it gets, because it's deadly serious about what's wrong with the upper class and conventional mindsets. As supreme comedian Mel Brooks has said: "Comedy is protest."

Both Ashley and the guerrillas are fighting for their lives, their true identities, and their freedom. Can they help each other toward victory?