Screwball Comedy/Stories Going Steady

Forget everything you know about the plucky twentysomething woman who moves to the Big Apple. You haven't met Rayla Sunday and her Screwball Comedy. Rayla wants to be a famous photographer, but she's still working on the famous part. In the meantime, she's struggling to get her foot in the door. Which wouldn't be so bad if she didn't have to deal with a dog-kissing ex-boyfriend, a boozy best friend and an extreme mom-makeover. Toss in an apartment eviction and a racist drag queen in the workplace. But these are just minor speed bumps on Rayla's road to success.

Miraculously, Rayla makes time for a dance card that's filled to the gills. Unfortunately, quantity doesn't mean quality. When she finally thinks she's found The One, Rayla discovers there's frequently a catch involved when it comes to Mr. Right.

In self-aware, effervescent language, Rayla Sunday narrates six connected tales full of dreams and false alarms, relationships and their expectations, with both humor and poignancy. Screwball Comedy is a shimmering, fresh take on finding your place in the world.

While Screwball Comedy represents the light at the end of the tunnel, Stories Going Steady is a journey through the darkness. A rich, bold short story collection featuring a cast of souls searching for humanity and connection in turbulent times. "A Man of a Certain Age" finds a high school teacher weighing his privacy against the truth brought about by a scandal. In "Counting Men," a Los Angeles nurse answers the question, What makes a woman star in an adult film? Loneliness and loss sends a recent widower reaching out to an unexpected new friend in "eventually…" And the narrator of the startling "A Posthumous Introduction" pays tribute to his friend, an obscure author, whose lone novel couldn't cure his horrific obsession.

Taken together, these two volumes of stories are triumphant examples of Allen's eclecticism and his ability to convincingly illustrate the lives of us all. He does this with clear-eyed compassion and a bracing honesty. Screwball Comedy and Stories Going Steady are ample evidence of a writer working at the height of his powers.