First published 2002
Mose Sharp grows up the only boy among six sisters in a Jewish family in small-town Iowa. At sixteen, he escapes to the vaudeville circuit, knowing he needs a partner to succeed. Rocky Carter crashes into his life, an ebullient but self-destructive comedian who becomes his stage partner for thirty years. The comedy team Carter and Sharp rises from vaudeville backwaters to Broadway to Hollywood's golden age. Rocky burns through money, women, and wives while searching for love. Mose builds a family life marked by fragile joy and wrenching tragedy. Offstage, the straight man delivers all the best lines while his famous partner struggles. Their complex friendship spans three decades as cracks appear in their partnership. One unforgivable act leads to another, and their bond begins to unravel. Mose carries the weight of his greatest loss, a girl he once had a chance to save but couldn't.
Genres: drama, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, comedy
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Iowa, Niagara Falls
Period: 20th-century
308 pages · Paperback · Bantam Dell Pub Group