Unhinged by years of rejection letters, an author plots a wild scheme to
gain an editor's undivided attention
Until I bought one, I'd never touched a gun, never stood in front of a
full-length mirror pointing a gun at myself. Bang, bang. Mine was a
Magnum .357 purchased in New Jersey, much more svelte than I'd imagined
a gun could be.
Evan Ulmer takes matters into his own hands after his writerly dreams of
fame and recognition have stalled. He kidnaps renowned editor Robert
Partnow and cages him in a basement equipped with a TV, a treadmill, and
a Porta-John. Evan shares his desperation with Bob, Bob reveals his own
unsavory secrets, and together they watch the media spin this situation
into a lurid tale of abduction and infidelity. Blurring the boundaries
between fiction and real life, cunning and sincerity, flirtation and
true love, Tearjerker unfolds in startling directions that make the
reader wonder along with Evan, "Was abduction a difficult and gutsy
endeavor or, instead, the predictable last resort of the desperately
stupid?"
In this darkly humorous debut novel, Daniel Hayes explores the human
reality behind the tabloid headlines and the pathos of failure and
yearning in a culture of high-stakes celebrity.
