Adriane on the Edge — Paul Mandelbaum

At the center of this hilarious, dazzling tale is Adriane Gelki, hapless employee of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Enhancement, who desperately wants to cultivate a life of devil-may-care, transcendent abandon, inspired by her hero, Thelonious Monk. So far, however, Adriane has yet to manage it. But now that she's staring down thirty, she's about to embark on a series of misadventures destined to change her life -- from getting busted for flashing an undercover cop and breaking her court-appointed therapist's ribs, to ruining a perfectly pleasant orgy. For Adriane Gelki, things are finally starting to look up! An uproarious look at the insanities of living on the edge, this charming and incisive novel revels in the tragicomic journey of life -- wherever it may lead.